Kids In The Dark
by ValyrianGryffindor
Summary: Skyler survived the confrontation with Kate and Peter, just. Now, there's a chance for a fresh start and no more supernatural disturbances. But a new threat is arising in Beacon Hills, and between trying not to lose one of her best friends, Derek hunting for a new pack, and Stiles, it will take all Skyler has not to be left in the dark. Sequel to 'Welcome to Beacon Hills'. R&R!
1. Out Of The Fire and Into The Hospital

_**AN: So here we go. New story, new beginning. There won't be another update for a little while as I'm very busy for the next few weeks, but I felt like New Year, new chapter. So I hope you enjoy, and please R &R! X**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I own nothing but Skyler**_

It was dark when Skyler woke up, and she immediately began to panic. The last thing she remembered was nearly bleeding out from the hole in her side and collapsing quite painfully. What if she had lost her sight?! She then realised that it was only dark because she hadn't actually opened her eyes yet. Feeling like a complete idiot, she peeled her eyelids open. They were sticky with sleepy dust and it made her wonder how long she had been asleep. She was in a hospital room, surrounded by harsh white walls and beeping machinery. She could feel an IV drip running into her arm and gagged as she glanced down at the needle underneath her skin. It reminded her with a sickening jolt that the last time she had seen Lydia, she had also been lying in a hospital bed. She sat up straight, swinging her legs over the side of her bed, standing for a few seconds before collapsing back, unable to keep herself upright on her shaking legs. Sky contemplated for a second and gripped the pole that her IV bag was attached to and pulling herself up again. She used it as a walking stick, making her way almost to the door before she leaned on it just a tad too hard and it went skittering across the floor on its wheels, sending her onto the ground with a surprised shriek. The door opened next to her and she could hear the worried voice of Melissa McCall calling her name worriedly.

"I'm fine, Melissa, really." Her throat felt like sandpaper whenever she spoke, and she had to cough harshly several times. "I just tripped. I'm okay, it's okay. How's Lydia?"

"She's fine, it's you we have to worry about right now," Melissa bent down next to her, sliding her arm around Sky's waist and helping her back to her feet. "You're going to tear your stitches."

"What stitches?" Sky asked, furrowing her eyebrows as Melissa helped her back into the bed, laying her on her back and crossing the room to stand the IV pole upright.

"In your side, honey," she explained, dropping into the chair next to Sky's bed. "You nearly bled out. You had to have a blood transfusion and ten stitches."

"I needed a blood transfusion?" Skyler stared at her incredulously, fingertips resting on her abdomen, where she could feel the thread holding her skin together.

"You had lost just about two liters of blood, that's almost enough to be classed as a hemorrhage, Sky," Melissa told her, watching the girl's expression of horror with pity. "You had to have a massive transfusion, and we ran into a problem." She sighed, rubbing her eye with a fist. "Your blood type is O Negative, y'know. And it means that you can only receive O Negative blood. There was a very serious car crash a few days ago, we used nearly all the O Neg blood in the hospital's blood bank, we only had three quarters of a liter left when you needed the transfusion."

"So I'm still down by a liter and a quarter of blood?" Sky wasn't quite sure how that was possible. She probably wouldn't have been so alert if she was still low on blood.

"No. When Allison and her father, Scott and Stiles brought you in, you were completely unconscious. After we gave you the blood we had on store, you were down by one and a quarter liters, that's just over two and a half pints." Melissa ran a hand through her hair, looking weary. "You needed an emergency transfusion, and people aren't meant to donate that much at a time. But Stiles is O Negative too. He offered to donate. If he hadn't, Sky... You could've died. We had to make an executive decision, and he talked his dad into letting him. He's okay now, but you must have made a pretty big impression on him to make him do something like that."

She was stunned into silence. Stiles had actually saved her life. Melissa had said it herself, without it she would've died. Her heart pounded as she thought of him. They hadn't had any real time to talk about the kiss since it had happened, and she wasn't sure where they stood with each other. She wasn't all too eager to find out.

"Sky, Sky?" Melissa poked her gently in the arm, tone worried. "Are you okay?"

"I'm just tired," she murmured, picking at her duvet cover.

"You shouldn't be, you've been asleep for almost three days," Melissa pushed herself out of the chair, patting Sky on the knee.

"Three fucking days," Sky ran a hand down her face. "Did I miss anything?"

"The woman who stabbed you, Kate Argent, they found her body in the woods," Melissa paused at the door, smiling sadly over her shoulder at the girl. "They've charged her for burning down the Hale house and all the recent murders, Derek's been exonerated. He's been to visit you a few times, the Sheriff's not too happy about it though. And Stiles hasn't left the waiting room since you got here. We had to let him shower in one of the private bathrooms, 'cause he's refusing to leave until you do."

"Am I allowed to see him?" She asked, and a small part of her hoped that she wasn't, so that she could postpone the inevitable 'What are we?' talk for as long as possible.

"I'm not sure, I'd say that you will, as long as Rebecca agrees and she'll want to see you first."

"What about my dad?" Sky knew the answer before Melissa had even opened her mouth.

"He left for New York yesterday, but he'll be back as soon as possible," she looked down sadly. "He called earlier to see how you were doing."

"He came into see me, knew that I had been stabbed and left again?" Sky could feel a lump in her throat. She wasn't usually so emotional, but fathers were meant to be caring, and he had left her unconscious in a hospital bed after she had been stabbed. Melissa was watching her warily as she wiped her eyes.

"D'you want me... D'you want me to get Rebecca for you?" She moved forward, placing a hand on the foot of Skyler's bed.

"When can I go home?" Sky asked, ignoring the question completely.

"Tomorrow, if you're cleared. I think you will, but we'll have to wait and be sure," Melissa patted her foot comfortingly and opened the door. "All you need is some rest, and to not worry. I promise you, you're safe here. There are cops outside in the waiting area around the clock, for you and Lydia."

"Why would I need..." Sky bit her tongue as she realised that their cover story was obviously that she had been stabbed and she should probably act at least a little nervous. "Ah, of course, thanks."

The woman nodded at her, and slipped out of the room, letting the door click shut behind her. Sky flopped back on the bed, cuddling down into the pillows. She wasn't in very much pain, she just felt weak and tired. She wanted nothing more than to go home and curl up in her bed, listening to some soothing music. It was only then that she remembered that the last time she had been in her room, she had dropped her Formal dress on the floor without even rinsing her best friend's blood off of it. Skyler slipped her hand under her dress, running her fingers over the stitching in her side. The thread felt thick and ugly and coarse under her touch, and it made her squirm to feel the torn skin underneath. She jumped as the door opened again, wincing as her fingers pressed harshly against her cut. Becca was in the doorway, the Sheriff, Stiles, Scott and Allison hovering awkwardly behind her.

"Well come in if you're going to come in, I got stabbed," Sky rolled her eyes at their hesitation. "I'm not dying."

"Are you... Are you okay? Melissa said you asked for visitors." Rebecca stepped into the room, moving slowly towards the seat by her bed, holding one arm out as if she was afraid that she would somehow spook Skyler.

"No, I'm not okay," she rolled her eyes again in response and pushing herself up onto her elbows. She knew that this was going to happen, and wondered how long it would take for them to stop treating her like she was fragile and breakable. "I got stabbed by her psycho aunt, and nearly died." She waved a hand at Allison, who looked down in shame. "And now I'm tired, but I'll get over it." It was all quiet for a very long time, and Sky smiled internally, delighted that she could still shock them into silence.

"I'm sorry," Allison blurted out suddenly, causing everyone to turn and stare at her in surprise. She realised what she had said and backtracked quickly. "Y'know for what happened with Kate. I had no idea she was capable of anything like that."

"I don't give a flying fuck," Sky glared over the shoulders of the little group to glare at the huntress. "Get out."

"Skyler, it's not her fault," Scott told her softly, stepping into the room.

"Don't you start making excuses, or have you just forgotten the last few weeks," she snapped coldly, making him jump in surprise. "All the freaking out and the trying to get drunk, the crying and the whinging, and now it's all better 'cause she loves you, so you can forgive everything?" She snorted in annoyance. "Well, guess what? I'm not in a particularly forgiving mood due to the stab wound in my side!"

"Alright, Allison, even if it isn't you fault, I think you should go," Rebecca advised, shooing the girl away. "Maybe you just shouldn't have visitors, Sky."

"I have no problem with you or Stiles or Scott or the Sheriff coming in, but I don't want to see her!" She glared pointedly at Allison who was backing away from the door with tears in her eyes. "And not to be rude, Sheriff, but I'm really not in the mood for answering questions, is there any chance we could talk another time?"

"Of course," he smiled warmly at her. "I just want to make sure that you're doing better, kid."

"Tired, that's all, but thanks." Skyler dropped back onto the bed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I just didn't want her in here."

"Well, Sky, y'know it's not her fault. She can't control the actions of her family." The Sheriff entered the room slowly, wandering up to stand beside Rebecca. His face flushed and he looked down awkwardly as he continued. "And you did tell me that...that you kissed her boyfriend."

Stiles, Scott and Rebecca all looked around the room uncomfortably, Scott's hand reaching up to rub the back on his neck. Stiles glared gently at the back of his dad's head, still smarting from that particular occurrence. Skyler's mouth twitched slightly, greatly regretting her split second decision to offer that as an excuse for their animosity.

"Yeah, well..." she trailed off, picking at the blanket. "How's Lydia?"

"She's good, awake anyway," Scott told her, the three of them making their way to the bed and perching gently on the edge. Stiles was the only one who stayed by the door, hovering uncertainly and watching her face carefully. "She asked about you, wanted to get out of bed and come and see you the second that she found out you were in here."

"She's a hell of a lot worse than I am, she should stay in bed but I could go and see her," Sky suggested, wriggling to sit upright in the bed.

"No, if you tear your stitches, they're not going to let you out tomorrow," Rebecca reached out a hand and decided to smooth down Sky's hair, which she was sure was greasy and falling all over the place. "I'll wheel you down tomorrow when we're leaving. You need rest, honey."

"But she's okay? Yeah?" Sky asked, pulling Rebecca's hand off her head gently. "She's alright?"

"She's healing, slowly." Scott raised his eyebrows at her, trying to convey his very obvious message. "But she's not going to die. But she's healing at a normal, human rate."

"Well that's very interesting." Sky narrowed her eyes, looking down. If Lydia hadn't died, and wasn't a werewolf, what was she? "Have they run tests?"

"Why would they need to run tests if she's perfectly alright?" Rebecca asked suspiciously, looking between the two friends.

"Well, she's perfectly fine, apart from the big gaping hole in her side," Skyler replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes good naturedly at Becca. "It's bigger than mine. I'm quite jealous. Anyway, there could be anything in there. She might need a CAT scan."

"Do you know what caused the big gaping hole in her side?" The Sheriff cut in, fingers twitching towards the notebook and pen tucked into his belt.

"No, sir," Skyler told him, looking down again. "I went outside to get some air and Jackson was bringing her to the ambulance."

"D'you know how Jackson knew where she was?" He asked, obviously disbelieving everything she said.

"No, sir," she repeated, rubbing at her eyes again.

"Dad, I told you," Stiles interrupted, speaking for the first time. "I found her and called Jackson, then I went looking for Skyler. I didn't find her, so I came here, that was when I met you. Can you leave it, please, dad?"

"I'm sorry if I was being intrusive," he held up his hands defensively, smiling at his son.

From there on they slipped into easier topics of conversation, but Skyler's eyes kept travelling back to Stiles, still standing in the doorway. He was watching her intently, shoving his hands deep into his pockets. He was the epitome of discomfort. It was equal parts frustrating and adorable. They spoke for nearly an hour, the conversation mostly consisting of Rebecca, Mr Stilinski and Scott talking over each other about nothing too important as Stiles came and went, bringing drinks and snacks to the little group, but never really interacting. Sky just leaned back on the pillows, letting the chatter wash over her and allowing her mind to wander. Melissa returned when the hour was almost up, letting the visitors know that they had to be gone soon. The Sheriff stood up first, brushing down his uniform and ruffling her hair.

"See ya round, kiddo," he said as he walked to the door, sidestepping his son on his way out. "Call me if you need anything."

Scott followed him soon after, making some excuse about needing to some study but they both knew that he was going to see Allison. Skyler didn't care, she really didn't, if he wanted to screw the vindictive murderous bitch that had shot both of them, that was fine, but he was not the one who had ended up in hospital. The room fell uncomfortably silent as Rebecca, Stiles and Skyler were left on their own. She yawned quietly, rolling her shoulders back and stretching her arms above her head. She was ready to go back to sleep now, it was strangely tiring to even sit up and listen to other people talking around her.

"Becca, could you do me a favour please?" Sky asked, wrapping the blanket tighter around her.

"Of course, honey," Rebecca shifted on the bed to face her directly. "What d'you need?"

"Could you pick me up some stuff from home? Just some pyjamas and my iPod and clothes for tomorrow." She glared down at the ugly blue hospital gown that she was wearing. "This feels like it's made of cardboard."

"Yeah, but I might be a little while, sweetie," Becca stood up, picking her handbag off the ground and slipping it over her shoulder. "I'm gonna stop and pick you up something to eat. What d'you fancy?"

"Wendy's, please. Chili cheese fries and a soda float pleasey?" Sky grinned, the promise of greasy food immediately making her feel better.

"I'll see you in about an hour then," Rebecca told her, leaning down and kissing her forehead. "You try and get some rest." She stopped on her way out of the room, patting Stiles on the arm as she passed him. Once she was out in the hallway she glanced back at Sky, giving her a thumbs up and a wink over Stiles' shoulder.

"Are you going to come in?" She asked softly, tugging the bedside chair closer to her. "You've been standing there for like an hour, surely you want to sit down." He walked into the room quietly, never taking his eyes off her face, and threw himself onto the chair. He placed his hand on the blanket, splaying his fingers wide and examining them for a few seconds before sliding his hand across to rest over hers. She reveled in the familiar warmth, all the uncomfortable tension draining from the room. It was easy to pretend that nothing had happened, to push the 'What Are We' talk out of their minds for the time being. Both were worried that the other was regretting what they had done, but neither was brave enough to broach the subject. "So, what's the cover story?"

"Kate attacked Lydia, I found her, called Jackson and the ambulance and went to find you," Stiles sighed, running a hand over his face. "Kate then went to the Hale house to kill Derek to stop his from telling the truth about the arson. Chris and Allison followed to stop her, you and Scott went after Allison to make sure she was safe and Jackson and I followed you two." He squeezed her hand gently before carrying on. "Kate got angry, stabbed you and then when she was confronted by what she had done, she killed herself."

"And they bought that?" Sky furrowed her eyebrows incredulously.

"Well, it's not exactly watertight, but if we all stick to it, they're not going ask too many questions," Stiles slumped back in the chair, still holding onto her hand. "Skyler... I should never have left you in the school like that."

"Stiles, it's not your fault," she replied automatically. He was such a martyr. Someone thousands of miles away could die of old age and Stiles would probably blame himself. He needed to understand that not everything that went wrong in their lives was his fault. "Stiles. Do you understand? You couldn't have stopped anything that happened the other night."

"I could've stopped you from getting stabbed," he shot back, scratching the back of his neck in irritation.

"If you hadn't gone when you did, Lydia might have died, do you realise that!?" Skyler snapped, digging her nails into the back of his hand to draw his attention. "She survived because you found her when you did, Stiles."

"And I left her there," he finished, pursing his lips. Sky was tempted to smack him, she was sick shit of him blaming himself and they had only been speaking for a minute or two.

"Did Peter threaten to kill you if you didn't go with him? Because that's who I assume you were with," Sky asked, glaring at him.

"No." He shifted uncomfortably, evidently disliking the idea that he was not to blame for their misfortune. "But he did threaten to kill Lydia," he admitted grudgingly.

"So she would've died if you hadn't done what you did," she pointed out. "And nothing else that happened that night had anything to do with you."

"Sky..."

"I'm serious, don't start that shit with me," Skyler interrupted, reaching up her free hand to turn Stiles' face towards her. "It took the combined effort of two werewolves and three werewolf hunters to stop him. There was nothing you could've done, Stiles."

"I could've done something if I was a werewolf." Stiles sighed and removed her hand from his cheek, letting it fall back onto the blanket. "Peter offered me the bite, the same way he offered it to you. I wanted to. I wanted to be someone. I really, really wanted to, but I didn't."

"Why?"

"Because you didn't," he explained simply, shrugging his shoulders. "Because you didn't need to be like them to be strong. You're perfect the way you are."

"So are you, Stiles," Sky sighed, running her hands up his arms until she was cupping the back of his head. "You don't need to be a werewolf to be someone. You're my someone." He pulled his chair closer to her bed and she shuffled towards the edge until they were nearly forehead to forehead. "And I care about you. I care about you a lot, you know that, right?"

"I care about you, too," he whispered gently. She loved the way his voice sounded whenever he spoke to her. It was as if she was the only person worth talking to and he cherished every word that passed between them. "And obviously know that you care about me," Stiles's voice took on a more confident and joking tone, smiling wryly at her, "Seeing as you practically assaulted me at the dance. Throwing yourself all over me."

"I threw myself at you?" She responded incredulously, leaning away from him and raising her eyebrows. "Well, that's not quite how I remember it. I remember you starting it."

"That's obviously not true, anyway," Stiles corrected her, pulling his chair forward until he was nearly on her bed. "I quite vividly remember being trapped with absolutely no escape possible."

"If you didn't enjoy, all you have to do is say the word, and it'll never happen again," Skyler shrugged halfheartedly at him. She felt goosebumps break out across her body as Stiles inched closer, and she could feel his hands trembling on the duvet next to her leg.

"I don't think I ever actually said that I didn't enjoy it," he murmured quietly, sliding off the chair until he was kneeling on the edge of her bed.

He slipped one hand onto her knee, trying to keep it steady as the other hand moved to her neck. He was barely touching her, fingertips hovering over her, like he was scared to let his hand rest on her in case she shattered. He dipped his head forward, leaning it against Skyler's and closing his eyes. She reciprocated, sliding her hands around to rest on his cheeks as her eyelids fluttered shut. She could feel his breath dancing across her lips as he hesitated, unsure of whether or not to close the gap between them. She rolled her shoulders, running one hand up to the back of his head and down to his cheek again.

"Stiles..."

Skyler leaned in first this time, resting her lips against his. He tipped his head downwards slightly, drawing back before pressing in again. It was unlike their first kiss. That was jealousy, the heat of the moment, and a tiny bit of fear. This was sweet and caring and light, and it gave her butterflies. Stiles tilted his head to the side, cupping the base of her neck and letting his fingers play with a few strands of hair. She dropped her hands to his shoulders, fisting her hands in the fabric of his plaid shirt to pull him closer. He was nearly lying on the bed at this point, still hovering just far enough away so that there was still a gap between them and his hand was still resolutely resting on her knee. Their lips were moving in sync, applying just the right amount of pressure before one of them would draw back, pulling the other with them. It was exhilarating and Skyler could faintly hear the steady beeping of her heart monitor growing more and more erratic. It was the perfect moment, until the door opened.

"Wahey, kiddo."

Zach stood, smirking, in the doorway, looking surprisingly happy for a guy who had just walked in on the girl he said that he liked three days ago, making out with a guy in her hospital bed. She grinned back at him, trying to ignore the embarrassed flush creeping up her neck. Stiles, on the other hand, flailed madly, windmilling his arms and sliding off the bed, hitting the floor with a sickening thud.

"You all right down there, Stilinski?" He asked, rolling his eyes and stepping over Stiles, who was still on the floor, to take the now empty seat next to her bed.

"Fine," he snapped back, head popping up at the side of the bed, and trying desperately to smooth his shirt out as he stood up.

"And what about you?" He turned to Skyler, leaning back in his chair and stretching his legs out, crossing them at the ankle. "Heard you got stabbed."

"Eh, just a tad," Sky shrugged one shoulder and screwed up her face. His bluntness was refreshing. Everyone else had skirted around the subject but Zach couldn't care less about how delicate her feelings were at the moment.

"So, what happened?" Zach slid off his brown leather jacket and slung it on the back of the chair as Stiles hovered awkwardly at the foot of the bed.

"She was a bit of a bitch and then she stabbed me," Sky explained as simply as she could manage. "That's about it."

"I should- I should go," Stiles piped up, scratching his arm, eyes dancing between Skyler and Zach.

"You can stay if you want," Zach waved an arm at the bed, motioning for him to sit down. "I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

"You didn't," he replied, completely unconvincingly. "And I should let you two catch up anyway. Zach's been coming and going the past few days while you were unconscious. Y'know, just coming and going." His voice took on a slightly superior note and Sky could clearly the hear the message.

"While you didn't leave for three days," she smiled sweetly at him as he shuffled to her bedside, watching Zach warily. "Melissa told me." She reached a hand up to rest on the back of his neck, trying to reassure him that Zach was not a threat. "Thank you for that, but you need to go home and wash yourself and get some clean clothes."

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay?" He asked, dropping his head down to her level.

"I'll be fine, go," Sky grinned fondly at him, reaching up to brush the tip of her nose off of his. He blushed furiously, glancing up at Zach for a second before letting his gaze fall back to Skyler. He closed his eyes and leaned in, pecking her gently in the lips for a few seconds, letting his hands cup her cheeks. She was flushing red when Stiles pulled back, trying to keep her smile in check.

"So, bye," he gave her an awkward salute as he pulled away from her. He attempted to back out of the room without turning around so he could keep a warning eye on Zach. It was almost working until he collided painfully with the door frame and stumbled out of the room, swearing angrily. Sky and Zach chuckled as they heard his voice recede down the hall, still wishing doom upon the door.

"So was that the first time you two kissed?" Zach asked with a smirk, placing one foot on her bed and crossing the other leg over it at the ankle.

"No," Sky admitted, still feeling the delighted colour in her cheeks. "We had a pretty intense kiss at the dance. Y'know, before I got stabbed."

"Tell me everything."


	2. Sidelined

**_AN: Jesus Christ. It has been way too long, and I am so very sorry. I have been in England for the past few weeks at my Grandma's funeral and I have had no time to concentrate on anything else. I promise I will focus as best I can on getting the next few chapters out as soon as I can! Just a little warning for this chapter and following chapters, there is a lot of talk in this about sex and safe sex and there is some light sexual content at the end of the chapter, and the rating of this story will probably switch to 'M' soon enough. So, I hope you enjoy this chapter, thank you for all the Follows, Favourites and Reviews for the first chapter, and I got some really lovely PM's which I will get around to replying to soon. Enjoy, and please drop a review and let me know what you think! Xx_**

It felt wonderful, being wheeled down the hallway to freedom. Okay, so maybe freedom was a bit of an over exaggeration, but it felt pretty awesome to not be stuck in a hospital bed anymore. Skyler had woken up two days ago and the cabin fever set in within a few hours. Zach had sat with her for a while and then his mom, Susan, turned up with a basket of muffins and brought him home. Stiles had returned an hour later, bearing food that Rebecca had dropped off before she went home to pick up some clothes and pyjamas. Once Rebecca arrived, the three of them ate greasy food out of cardboard containers and drank their soda floats while watching Prison Break on Sky's laptop.

She had been allowed to go and see Lydia the next day and sit in her room with her. The simultaneously good and bad news was that she had absolutely no idea what had happened to her at the Winter Formal, which meant that they avoided having to try and come up with some bullshit story, but it also meant that they were no closer to figuring out what she was. Loathe as she was to say it, they needed to talk to Derek. None of them had spoken to or seen him since he had killed his uncle. He had screwed them over and they were very pissed off. Now, she was trying to do wheelies in her wheelchair as Rebecca signed her out of the hospital.

"Could you... Could you stop doing that please?" Stiles asked her nervously as the chair nearly tipped over backwards. "You're gonna break a leg and then you're gonna be stuck here for even longer, and I'm gonna have to listen to you whinging."

"Shut up, Dad," Skyler drawled jokingly, spinning the chair in a circle. She saw Stiles purse his lips and start to sigh, so she rooted in the pocket of her sweat pants for some spare change and offered it to Stiles. "Go and get me something to eat please. And get yourself something nice, dearie."

Stiles rolled his eyes, taking the money from her outstretched hand and wandering away down the hall towards a vending machine, glancing back over his shoulder to make sure she hadn't broken her leg yet. She tucked herself further into the baggy blue hoodie that Stiles had lent her the other day, sticking her legs out in front of her to examine her shoes. She wanted to go home and curl up in bed with Stiles and watch some more Prison Break. Thank God for Netflix.

"You ready to leave, honey?" Rebecca asked, handing the form she had been filling out back to the nurse behind the counter.

"You have absolutely no idea," Sky grinned, running her hands through her hair and only realising just then how greasy it was and how much she needed a shower. "These place is driving me mental."

Just as she was about to stand, there was a deafening crashing sound from down the hall of glass smashing and what sounded like metal buckling. Sky was worried for a second, wracking her brain for explanations of what could've happened until she remembered what she had sent Stiles to do. A wide grin split across her face. Only Stiles could manage to destroy a vending machine in the middle of a hospital. He was seriously one of a kind. Rebecca watched her curiously as she held in a laugh, imagining Stiles' face as he observed the mess he had created. She was going to explain exactly what had happened when a hair raising scream sounded from one of the private rooms.

"Lydia." Skyler stood so quickly she barely even noticed the motion or the wheelchair that went skittering backwards across the reception. The blood was pumping in her ears, drowning out every other sound. She darted into the girl's room, throwing the door open so hard that she heard the plaster crack underneath the force of the metal handle. Lydia wasn't in the bedroom, the sheets were pushed back and crumpled, the marshmallow pink and white pillows from Lydia's bed at home were propped up against the headboard. Sky heard people flooding into the room behind her as she crossed to the bathroom door and flung it open.

The shower was still running but empty. The window in the wall above opposite the shower head was pushed wide, letting in a bitingly cold draft. Skyler hauled the curtain aside and threw herself into the tub, flinching slightly as the water from the shower sprayed her head and back and soaked through her Converse as she splashed to the end of the bath and stuck her head out of the window. She could vaguely hear someone calling her as she screamed for her best friend. She had definitely been there fifteen minutes ago, Skyler had sat with her as Lydia ran a brush through her hair to work out all the knots before she showered. Now, she was gone, they had no idea what she was and she was gone.

"Sky, hey. C'mon. Get outta there. Skyler." Stiles was shaking her shoulders gently, trying to lift her out of the bathtub. "Skyler, come with me."

She let him lead her out of the bathroom, passing several armed officers on the way, including the Sheriff. Skyler nearly slipped on a light coloured hospital gown as she was leaving the bathroom, and her stomach dropped. Not only was Lydia running around Beacon Hills in the dead of winter, but she was also naked, meaning hypothermia was a valid possibility. Stiles sat her back in the wheelchair as he almost subconsciously rubbed her trembling shoulders and wheeled her towards the row of chairs in the waiting room. He threw himself down onto one of the plastic seats, sitting knee to knee with her.

"Are you alright, Sky?" He asked tentatively. Her entire body was shaking with small tremors that were radiating outwards from the center of her body. "Please say something."

"I thought she was going to die. Then she didn't. She seemed almost perky, and she was herself. Now she's gone." She could only manage small sentences, feeling like talking about it any longer would make it real.

"We're going to find her, okay?" Stiles promised, reaching out and grasping her chin gently, raising it so that their eyes met. "Scott's already on his way here. We're gonna find her."

"Okay. Okay. Just give me a minute," she murmured, running her hands over her face. Her eyes flickered over to Rebecca who was watching both of them worriedly, hovering by the door of Lydia's room. "I just need to tell Becca that I'm staying at yours tonight and then we can go."

"Um, Sky..." Stiles shifted awkwardly, looking down and rubbing the back of his head. "I don't think that you should come with us."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" She snapped, suddenly much more alert. Pushing the chair back, she rose to her feet, soaking wet shoes still dripping puddles on the lino. "Stiles, she's my best friend."

"Sky, you've just been in hospital for about five days, getting a hole in your side stitched up," he reasoned, jumping up after her and holding his hands out in a placating gesture. "Running around in the woods on a freezing cold night might not be the best for you. And the doctors said no strenuous exercise for a few weeks."

"So you two are gonna go and find her without me?" She asked coldly. "You're gonna go after my best friend without me? You guys are gonna sideline me?"

"It's not like that," he started, moving towards her and placing a hand on her arm. Physical contact with Stiles usually sent chills down her spine but now she just wanted him to let go.

"Then let me come with you," she implored, making her eyes as wide as she could and sticking out her lower lip. She had to fight the overwhelming urge to smack him in the face as his eyes went over her shoulder and focused on Rebecca, trying to beckon her over without speaking. "Asshole," she hissed, letting her cutesy exterior fall away as Becca hurried over.

"I think we should go home now," Rebecca piped up, taking hold of her shoulder and easing her away from Stiles who was still staring at her apologetically as he backed away slowly.

"Fuck it, let's go. It's not like I have anything better to do," Skyler told her, keeping her eyes trained on Stiles. "Where are my keys? I haven't driven my car in a week and I miss her."

"Oh yeah, about that," Rebecca said, laughing nervously. "It's kinda in the shop."

"What the fu..." Sky closed her eyes, groaning in exhaustion and irritation as she remembered driving her car inbetween the two trees in the forest. "Oh, my baby. You don't deserve this."

"Are you talking to your car?" The older woman asked, watching her with trepidation in her eyes.

"Yes. Yes, I happen to be talking to my car," Skyler snapped back. She was pinching the bridge of her nose, eyes screwed shut, not sure whether to laugh or cry. Why was it always her baby or Roscoe that seemed to get the short end of the stick. She was sure she had paid more in car repairs in the short few months that she had been here than she had in the rest of her life put together. "Because she's hurt. I may have been in the hospital, but so was she."

"I think you need to rest," Becca suggested softly. The look in her eye was reminiscent of a zookeeper staring down a caged beast, wondering if it was going to lash out. Skyler wasn't surprised. She doubted that she seemed very mentally stable at the moment.

"Okay. Okay, let's go," she conceded, trying her best to not sound confrontational. "We'll go then."

Rebecca nodded once and told her that she was going to get the car, that she would meet Sky outside the reception in a few minutes. Stiles watched Rebecca leave, blatantly avoiding Skyler's gaze at all cost. She sidled over to him, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring gently at him. She didn't feel angry anymore, now she was just tired and indignant.

"If you're gonna leave me out of the Scooby Gang, the least you could do would be to look me in the eyes," she mumbled when she was within a few feet of him.

"We're not... We're not leaving you out," he insisted softly, shuffling from foot to foot in that adorable awkward manner of his. "And we're not sidelining you. I want you to come. I'd love you to come with us, but you're hurt, Sky. No matter how strong you are, and believe me I know just how strong you are, you've still got a hole in your side that is only being held together by thread." He took a deep breath and stepped towards her. Their bodies weren't touching but there was only a few inches between them at the least, and Sky could feel the heat radiating from him. "You could get hurt, and that's the last thing in this world that I want."

He reached out to her first and she slipped into his arms, hugging him tightly around the waist. He wound one arm around her back, cupping her head with his hand and letting the other fall to the small of her back. It was such a familiar gesture that, without even thinking about it, Skyler dropped her head to Stiles' chest. She could feel his heartbeat underneath her head and closed her eyes as she listened to the soothing rhythm. She pressed herself closer to him and sighed as she felt the large bulge under his shirt.

"Stiles."

"Yeah."

"What the fuck is that?"

"I have Lydia's hospital gown stuck up my shirt."

"Okay."

She pulled back, shaking her head in fond exasperation. He was grinning sheepishly, trying to smooth down the large bump as more officers squeezed past them into Lydia's room. They stood facing each other, rocking backwards and forwards awkwardly until Stiles leaned in and pecked her quickly on the lips, pulling back before she could return the kiss.

"I'll call you the second we find her. Promise," Stiles told her, tracing his fingers up and down her arm. Skyler gave him a small smile and turned, glancing over her shoulder at Stiles while she walked away. Her entire face was flushed red as she ran her fingers over her lips which were still tingling with a delightful heat. She was still trying to keep the massive goofy grin off her face as she climbed into Rebecca's Hummer. The last thing she needed was to have explain the relationship between her and Stiles. A relationship she wasn't quite sure she even fully understood yet. They hadn't had the awfully uncomfortable 'What Are We?' talk so far, and Sky was happy to keep it that way until the situation with Lydia was rectified. Until that moment, her best friend was the most important thing on her mind.

"Are you alright?" Rebecca asked her, watching Sky's hands fidgeting and twitching in her lap. "You seem a bit...jumpy." Sky raised an eyebrow,waving a hand at her abdomen. "Right. Stupid question."

"It was a bit, yeah," Sky agreed. She reached out to the turn on the warm air, making a considerable effort to still the tremor in her hands. "But don't worry, I'm not going to wake up screaming every night for the next few years."

"That's kind of why I'm worrying, sweetie." Skyler fought the urge to sigh heavily. She could tell from the tone of Becca's voice that they were about to have a serious talk. "You were attacked. A crazy woman, a serial killer, stabbed you. You nearly bled out, you were unconscious for several days. When you woke up you wouldn't talk to one of your best friends, the other was in a hospital room down the hall. Why aren't you freaking out more?"

"Maybe I'm just really well adjusted," she suggested quickly.

"You're not," the older woman replied flatly.

Rebecca had been with Nick for several years and, before her mother had died, she had met Sky on three or four occasions. She always thought the girl to be clever but withdrawn and temperamental, even rude at times. That hadn't bothered Rebecca, she understood the anger that Skyler would have felt at the idea of another woman trying to replace her mother. But it wasn't until Sky moved in with the two of them that Rebecca realised just how deep that pain ran, and how much stronger it had become after the death of her mother. Nick, for all his many good points, had never been the parenting type. He had told Rebecca that when he explained about his ex-wife and daughter. He just couldn't take the stress, the constant demand of having a child and Becca understood that, she had never wanted kids either. Now that Sky was with them though, she wouldn't give her up for anything in the world. And she was very very worried about her.

"Becca, it happened, now it' over. Kate's dead and there's nothing more to worry about," she insisted, wishing that the woman would just drop the subject. Her father's girlfriend nodded slowly, sensing the finality of Skyler's tone and thought that it was best to leave it for now.

"Fine, I don't need to worry about you getting murdered anytime soon," she conceded, smirking gently. "Do I need to worry about you and Stiles using protection?"

"We're not sleeping together," she said automatically before her head snapped up to peer at Rebecca. "How did you..."

"Zach told me that he walked in on you two getting all lovey dovey in your hospital bed the other day," Becca told her with a wry little grin. "He's a good boy, that one. Cares a lot about you, even if you totally ditched him at the Winter Formal from what I hear."

"Hey, he encouraged me to ditch him," Skyler pointed out, grinning as she remembered the conversation she had had with Zach at the dance. "And he needs to learn to keep his mouth shut."

"Are you kidding me?" Rebecca asked incredulously. "I should be paying this guy for the intel he gives me on what you get up to."

"That's not an invasion of privacy at all," she drawled out, crossing her arms childishly.

"So are you and Stiles being safe?" Rebecca asked again. Thankfully, her tone was more concerned friend than disapproving parent, so Sky didn't quite feel like she was being scolded.

"We're really not having sex. Yet," Skyler muttered.

"Yet?"

"Well, if we are going out then I assume at some point we'll both want to. I guess..." Sky trailed off. All the blood in her body seemed to be rushing to her face at the thought of having sex with Stiles. It wasn't something she had considered a whole lot in her waking hours, but it was a very pleasurable idea that sent a sharp heat straight to her core, but it was not something that she should be thinking about while in the car with Rebecca.

"And do I need to have to talk to you about safety, or anything?" Rebecca wondered lightly, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel. It was an unbelievably awkward conversation and she was trying not to get preachy or condescending, but she could feel her voice getting higher and higher as she went on. She had honestly never thought that she would have to have this discussion, but she didn't know whether or not Skyler had ever done this sort of thing before and she wanted to make sure that the young girl was certain about it. "And it's not just about using protection, y'know. It's a very emotional thing. And I just don't want you to get hurt because you and Stiles don't completely think this through beforehand."

"Where the fuck is this coming from?" Sky raised an eyebrow at her, squirming uncomfortably in her seat. "I don't even know if we're actually dating yet. We've kissed a few times, but we've never talked about what we are."

"Well you should. Because you might think that you're one thing and he might think that you're another and it gets totally confusing and horrible," Becca pointed out as they rolled into driveway. "You both need to understand what the other wants. Talk it all through before you go any further."

Skyler's stomach clenched painfully. The words had brought an almost completely forgotten memory flooding back. She had just told her mother that she had had sex with Jace and her mom sat her down on the sofa, assuring Sky that she wasn't angry or disappointed in her. There had been a very serious conversation about birth control and the possible consequences of sleeping with someone. Sky had explained that they had discussed it for several weeks before the actual night and that they were sure that this was what they wanted. Her mother didn't mind her having a sexual relationship with her boyfriend as long as they were safe and both knew where they stood. She had told her that they needed to understand what the other wanted, to talk it through. And Rebecca had just parroted those exact words. It was a sickeningly painful jolt of déjà vu.

"You okay?" Becca rested her hand on Sky's bicep and the girl pulled away sharply, rubbing her nose.

"Fine," she muttered, wrenching the door open and stumbling out, dragging her gym bag with her. "Just tired." And she was. She was exhausted, and the unexpected flashback hadn't exactly perked her up. She should've been talking to her mother about this, about having sex with a boy she really cared for, but instead it was Rebecca giving her advice, making sure she was thinking things through. It made her feel a bit sick. She hadn't even noticed it, but Rebecca was slowly sliding into the mothering role. Sky was sure that the woman hadn't meant to, however she still felt as if she was betraying her mother in some way.

"Sky. Do you want to watch a movie or something before you go to bed?" Rebecca asked quietly, hurrying after her as she opened the door. "Or Prison Break, we could watch Prison Break. If you don't mind watching that without Stiles. I know it's kind of your guys' show."

Skyler looked at Rebecca, heart clenching impossibly at the hopeful look on Becca's face. She wasn't doing this to be rude, she just wanted to be on her own for a while to try and sort her head out. All of her problems seemed to be screaming in her head, jostling for pride of place at the forefront of her mind and she needed to be in her own company until she had dealt with it all.

"No, thanks, but I'm gonna head straight to bed. Maybe read for a bit first then go to sleep," Sky told her as Becca closed the door behind them, locking it and rechecking that it was secure. "You can just head to bed, don't worry about me."

"Are you-"

"I'm sure," Skyler cut her off with all the finality she could muster. "Good night, Becca." She moved over to the stairs, only managing to climb up one step before Rebecca called out to her.

"Sky, I'm sorry if I've done something to upset you. And I apologise if I crossed a line in the car," she said. Her hands were clenched together, eyes worried. "If it wasn't my place to talk about you and Stiles then please just tell me."

"I'm just tired, Becca. Promise." Skyler smiled gently at the woman, who smiled in return, nodding once before she made her way to the kitchen and Sky climbed the stairs to her room.

The last time she had been in her room the covers had been thrown on across the bed, her laptop was left turned on and open on the chaise lounge, blood soaked dress on the floor with her shoes, and several other items of clothes, books and knick knacks strewn across the floor. She reached around the door without even glancing into her room, flicking down the light switch. She ran her fingers over the little piece of tape stuck under the switch that Stiles had written 'LUMOS' on, and pushed the door open. Rebecca had done a fantastic job.

Her light blue sheets were gone, replaced by a noticeably fresher crimson bed sheet with a matching red and black paisley duvet cover and pillow cases. The dress was no longer on the floor and her shoes had been put away in the bottom of the wardrobe. Her laptop was sitting closed on her desk next to her 'I Love Biscuits' mug, which she had been sure was on the floor last time she was in her room, and a few of her trashy teen romance novels. She dumped her bag on the ground, kicking the door shut behind her. The CD player that she had bought when she was eleven was sitting on the book shelf next to her desk. Without bothering to check what particular CD was in there, Skyler pressed play, smiling at the angsty punk sounds of All Time Low.

She ran her hands through her hair, kicking off her still damp shoes as she walked to the window. It was much too stuffy in her room so she unlatched the window and pushed it up. The cold breeze washed over her, sending goosebumps across her body. Rebecca had set out a cosy pair of pyjamas on her bed, a white tank top and checkered red and green flannel pants. Skyler shrugged off the hoodie and dropped it on her desk chair, followed by the loose lumberjack shirt she had been wearing. She slipped her pants off, letting the cuffed ankles tug her socks off along with them. Deciding that she couldn't be bothered with cleaning up tonight, she kicked her clothes to the side, leaving her black pair of panties on top of the pile. She pulled on the pants as she walked to the mirror, tying the drawstrings to keep them on her hips. Sky had her tank top flung over her shoulder as she stopped in front of the mirror, examining the square white bandage across her abdomen. She peered closer, turning left and right, and realised that she could make out the fading black stitching underneath the white cloth.

"You really shouldn't leave your window open in this town."

Sky jumped in shock, eyes flying to the space in the mirror above her shoulder. Derek was watching her intently, his normally forest green eyes were the deep angry red of an Alpha. She spun round quickly and took in the scene as best she could. Derek looked so out of place in her room among the comic books and old furniture, posters and records. He was wearing his usual white shirt, jeans and black leather jacket. If she hadn't known better, Sky would've said that he only had the one set of clothes. He arched one perfectly plucked eyebrow at her and ran his eyes up and down her body. It was only then that she remembered her lack of a shirt. She pulled it off her shoulder and slid if over her torso, scowling at the werewolf.

"You're right. If I leave my window open, psychotic werewolves might see it as invitation to scale my house and climb into my bedroom," Skyler snapped at him. He didn't smile the way he usually did when she got frustrated with him. He just looked tired. There were dark circles under his eyes, his hair was tousled and his skin was even more pale than usual. Killing his own uncle must have taken an even larger toll on Derek than she have realised.

"I went to see you when you were in the hospital but they said family only while you were unconscious," he explained, picking up her phone off the desk and spinning it between his fingers. "Told me you were pretty badly hurt."

"Well I was shot in the side with an arrow while trying to help you get away from your batshit crazy ex-girlfriend before you betrayed our trust. Not a big deal," Sky bit out coldly. Derek looked up at her, dropping her phone back onto the comforter and rolling his eyes.

"You're not dead, are you?" He asked sarcastically.

Sky searched for an intelligent comment to make, but she was too tired so she just settled for the most eloquent phrase she could muster. "Fuck you, Derek." He smiled harshly without any humour and took a sudden step towards her. He looked savagely pleased as she shuffled back quickly, back hitting the wall next to her mirror.

"Scott wouldn't have killed him anyway," Derek pointed out, still moving closer and closer to her. "Scott could never be an Alpha. He doesn't have the strength."

"And you do?" Sky muttered, watching his dark red eyes. "Scott was the closest thing you had to pack and you swore he could kill Peter, get his normal life back, then you betrayed him. Not exactly strength of character."

"I don't need Scott as a pack," Derek told her, voice deep and flat. "I can have a stronger pack, a better pack." He took another step until there was only a foot between them. "And that's why I'm here."

Sky paused for a second, mind reeling at what Derek had just implied. "You know," she started after a while. "Your uncle said pretty much the same thing to me once."

"I am not Peter," he growled quickly, teeth clenched and lips pulled back in an angry grimace. "I am not a murderer."

"Peter was desperate for power, he was willing to kill his family for it. You were willing to kill him for it," Sky spat. If she was in her right mind she probably would have never spoken to Derek that way, but she was tired and frustrated and wanted him to get out. He slammed his hand on the wall next to her head, making her flinch away from him. She had never been scared of Derek before. He had made her nervous, due to the werewolf thing and the fact that he was seriously one of the most attractive people she had ever met, but he had never scared her until now.

"I am NOT Peter," he repeated, voice growing more and more animalistic. Seeing the look in Skyler's eyes, he sighed and dropped his head, and when he looked back up his eyes were their natural green again. "I am making you an offer."

"Did you make Scott this offer too?" She asked, letting her eyes slide away from Derek's to settle on a pair of shoes she could see poking out from under the bed. "Is he going to be your Beta?"

"I already found the first Beta of my pack. It's not Scott," he added sarcastically, tilting his head and trying to catch her eyes. "You could be my second."

"I don't want to," she muttered childishly. If Derek had been the Alpha when she had first met him, then there would have been a legitimate chance that she would've accepted his offer, but looking at him now all she could see was Peter.

"I need people I can trust, Sky. I trust you," he sighed in exasperation.

"I don't trust you," she pointed out. "Not any more."

"Skyler, do you understand everything you could have. Everything you could be," Derek dropped his voice, moving his other hand to hover ever so slightly over the bandage on her side. She could feel the heat from his hand through her tank top. "What happened to you, what put you into the hospital, if you were like me then you wouldn't have to ever worry about that. You could heal, you could be invincible."

"Still no," Skyler replied flatly, trying not to let Derek hear how her heart was jumping. She was trying not to breathe too heavily because if her stomach expanded even slightly, then his hand would be resting on her body. If this had been a few weeks ago she might have been in seventh heaven. She had found Derek incredibly hot when she had first met him, and definitely would've considered him as a possibility if not for the age gap.

"Sky, think about it," he murmured, removing his hand from the wall and placing it on her cheek and tilting her head up. "I need you." The look in his eyes was startlingly sincere and it made Sky's heart jump slightly. He really seemed desperate, like he needed a friend. She took a deep breath and was about to tell him that she'd think about it when she heard Rebecca climbing up the stairs.

"Fuck," she breathed quietly, shoving Derek away from her. She knew that it wouldn't do any good if he didn't want to move, he was like a wall, but thankfully he stepped away, letting his arms fall back to his sides. Skyler pushed past him to the opposite wall, pressing her palms flat against the door and putting her entire weight behind her, leaning on it. She glanced over her shoulder at Derek who was watching her with raised eyebrows.

"Skyler?" Rebecca called out as she came to a stop on the other side of the door.

"Getting changed in here," Sky yelled back, hoping that Rebecca wasn't in the mood for a deep meaningful conversation.

"Uh, okay, I just wanted to make sure that you were alright before I went to bed," she continued, and Sky could see in her mind's eye the exact worried facial expression that Rebecca was wearing.

"Okay."

"Well are you alright?" The older woman asked, starting to sound exasperated.

"Oh, Christ, yeah. I'm fine," Sky told her, resting her forehead against the door between her hands. "I'm just heading to bed too, you don't need to worry about me."

"Oh. Okay. Night then," Rebecca said in an almost disappointed voice. Sky knew that Becca didn't want her to be hurting or upset, but she also knew that Rebecca was starting to like their closeness and enjoy the feeling of having Sky depend on her for everything her father couldn't provide.

"Night, Becca." Sky thought for a few seconds before adding, as she heard Becca start to walk away, "Thanks Rebecca." There was a pause, and Sky knew that the other woman was smiling to herself, before the footsteps resume until Rebecca's door shut behind her.

"Jesus, that was close. Derek, I think you need to..." She spun around to face the empty room. The curtains were pulled back from the open window, tossing and turning in the breeze. "Ass." She wanted him to leave, but she only wanted him to go when she was ready.

Skyler wandered over to the CD player and switched off the music. Any kind of noise seemed to be too much for her right now. Adding to the myriad of problems rattling around in her head, she now had Derek's pack to worry about. Who the hell was the first Beta? She made a mental note to call Stiles or Scott about that first thing tomorrow morning. She plucked her phone off the comforter where Derek had thrown it. There were no calls or even texts from Stiles. Either they hadn't found Lydia or Stiles had forgotten to get in touch with her.

She tossed it onto her bedside table as she passed, pausing for a moment to turn on her blue lamp, illuminating the corner of her room with an eerie glow. Crawling over the bed on her hands and knees, she stretched out to flick the light switch, plunging her room into almost complete darkness. She felt a cool breeze as she sat up, and turned, glaring at the still open window. Sky slid on the end on her bed and stormed over to the window, slamming it down as hard as she could. It may have just been her imagination, but she was sure that she saw a pair of red eyes flash once at the end of the garden before disappearing into the trees that backed her house.

"Dickhead," she snapped to herself, drawing the curtains so viciously that she nearly pulled them down. Her bed had never seemed so inviting.

She let her head fall onto the cool pillows, tucking herself under the blanket. She very rarely slept on her back, it was usually only when she was sharing a bed with someone, but the doctors had told that it could be dangerous to sleep on her side or stomach for a few days. Sky reached over and turned her lamp off, checking her phone one last time. There was still nothing from Stiles. She stared at her screensaver for a few seconds. It was a picture of her and Stiles sitting on the bonnet of the Jeep. He had one arm around her, their cheeks pressed together and grinning like idiots. She smiled at the picture, hoping against hope that what her and Stiles were building wouldn't screw up the friendship that she treasured with him.

Locking the phone, she flopped down onto her back, sighing in relief. Skyler could feel the tension in her body starting to fade, and her limbs start to grow heavy. Her eyes flicked shut, mind still working a mile a minute. Derek was jostling with Lydia for the top of her priority list. She could see the look in his eye as he had her up against the wall. He looked so damn desperate.

She thought back to this moment, but all she could see in her mind's eye was her and Stiles in the same position. No matter how hard she tried to picture the scene that had actually occurred, the stronger the image of her and Stiles became. She could feel her heart start to pick up as she wondered what Stiles would do had he been standing where Derek stood. Would he run his hand up her waist, tracing his fingers gently over the wound in her side, just as he had the other day? Would he lean in to her, cover her mouth with his and moan in that adorable little way of his when her tongue met his?

Skyler had only just noticed that she was trailing her own hand up and down her sides, breathing heavily. She could feel the heat gathering between her legs as her mind wandered further, knowing exactly what Stiles looked like without a shirt, but wondering just what he looked like everywhere else. She had to bite her tongue to hold back a gasp as her hand ran over her breast, her nipples standing stiff with arousal. She could almost feel Stiles' breath on her neck, hands tangled in her hair and resting on her back. She moved one of her hands underneath the wire of her bra, palming her breast and arching her back up towards her hand, almost moaning aloud at the sensation.

It felt wrong to Sky, it felt strange. She had had dreams about Stiles before, sure, but she wasn't in control of that. The little fantasy that was playing out in her mind, though, that was all her, and she loved it. She continued the massaging motion of her breast, thumb occasionally running over her nipple, causing her to shiver in delight. Her other hand slid downwards, over her chest, rib cage, stomach, to the waist of her pants. She slid a finger underneath the elastic, already feeling the warmth from her core. Skyler stopped for a second, chest heaving. She had never done this before. Well, she had, but never to the idea of Stiles pressing her against the wall and doing unspeakable things to her. Then again, she had just been stabbed and kind of deserved a break. She deserved this. Skyler hesitated once more before slipping two fingers beneath her waistband, forgetting every inhibition and worry and her hand dipped lower.


	3. Date Night I Think

**_AN: Hey guys, I'm back! As usual, it's been a while and I am super sorry. I was up in Dublin for a week with my friend so I got nothing written, but I did get to go and see All Time Low live and Jack Barakat touched my hand so it was kinda the best day ever. When I got back I was pretty sick so I spent a few days in bed, crying over my many many mostly gay OTPs, so this chapter is kinda late. Thanks to everyone who followed and favourited the story or me, especially thanks to reviewers, you guys make me want even faster so it's great to hear from you. Hope you guys enjoy, and let me know what you think X_**

"So, tell me again, you got detention for... What?" Sky asked again, running her spoon around the practically empty ice cream tub.

"Nothing!" Stiles insisted on the other end of the phone. "It's just Harris. That guy has it in for me."

"Ah. That makes way more sense," she admitted.

Rebecca had told her that morning that she didn't have to go into school if she didn't feel up to it, and, like any other normal teenager, she jumped at the opportunity to laze around for another day. She would return to school tomorrow, but for now she was perfectly happy to sit at the breakfast bar in her pyjamas, digging down to the end of the tub for the last scrapings of gingerbread ice cream. Stiles had called her about an hour after school had ended, apologizing for not texting her last night, even though they had not found Lydia, and complaining about his detention. Sky wasn't sure whether or not she wanted to pick up, not knowing if she could speak to him without the memory of what she did last night rushing back.

"He hates me for absolutely no reason," Stiles grumbled, and Sky could hear him shifting gears in the Jeep.

"You're kind of a little shit," Skyler pointed out as gently as she could and Stiles made an angry snorting noise in response. "That's beside the point. The point is, where are you going?"

"Uh, nowhere. Well, not nowhere. Nowhere's not a place. You can't go nowhere, I mean just, nowhere. Nowhere important," he stumbled over his words in that hilarious way he did when trying to avoid a question or lie to someone.

"You just said 'nowhere' like six or seven times," Sky told him, slumping forward to rest on her elbows. "And I know there's something you're trying to avoid telling me. If you think it's because I'm fragile, or some bullshit like that-"

"No, that's not it. It's just..." He trailed off with a sigh, and Sky could practically see him rubbing the bridge of his nose in frustration. "I'm going to Kate's funeral."

"Oh."

That stung, pretty painfully actually. Everyone had a bone to pick with Kate, but hers seemed slightly more personal than the others. That bitch had got Allison to shoot her, and she had tried to kill Scott and Derek. Skyler took that very personally indeed. She thought that Stiles would've backed her up.

"I'm just going for Scott," he assured her quickly. "Just to support him. We're gonna be crouching behind a gravestone watching from afar, promise."

"Stiles, you don't have to explain it to me," she told him. She put an enormous amount of effort into not sounding snippy. She knew that she was being ridiculous and she was fighting with herself to try and push it down, be the bigger person. "If you want to be there for Scott, I get it."

"He just needs a friend right now. Allison's dad banned her from seeing Scott," Stiles explained. Though he would never say it because Scott was his best friend and needed his support, Stiles was sick to death of hearing about Allison. "I don't think Allison's dad- Shit!" He cut off with a scream and she heard the squealing of brakes on the other end.

"What?! Stiles! Stiles, what the hell?!" She yelled, pulling the phone away from her ear as he continued to shout and swear.

"Nothing, nothing at all. Just a deer in the road," he told her, breathing heavily as he held the phone back to his ear.

"Jesus, Stiles. You really shouldn't be on the phone while driving," she complained to him, letting her forehead drop to the cool counter top. "You're gonna kill yourself."

"Do you want me to go?" He asked, sass colouring his tone.

"No, but I also don't want you to kill yourself," Sky told him as she tapped her fingers lightly against the counter.

"So, will I come and pick you up?" He asked hopefully. "We can talk some more."

"Stiles. I'm sorry, but there is seriously no way in hell that I am going to that funeral," she scoffed. She doubted that she would even be allowed into the funeral. Her and Allison weren't exactly on speaking terms after the girl had tried to visit her in the hospital again, which had ended in a screaming match. "You could always come over after, if you want."

"R-really?" Stiles stammered. He sounded unusually surprised that Skyler might want him to come and hang out with her.

"Yes, really," she giggled, biting her lip to hold back her smile. "Becca took an extra shift at the store tonight to make up for the days she spent with me in the hospital, so we have the house to ourselves."

"Oh. Ooooh." Sky could practically see the blush rising in Stiles' cheeks as she realised how suggestive her last comment had sounded.

"I mean, we can watch movies and eat takeaway," Skyler corrected herself, before Stiles could presume anything else. "I have a load of Marvel movies and a voucher for free pizza, 'cause I kinda lied to the pizza place about when my birthday was and they gave me a birthday pizza voucher. We can have a superhero marathon and a meat feast."

"Woman, where have you been all my life?"

"Eating, sleeping, doing that kinda shit," she responded lightly. "Be over about half six or seven then?"

"Definitely," he agreed, before there was another squealing sound and multiple uses of the word 'shit'.

"Another deer?" Skyler wondered, picking her head up and tapping a finger off her cheek.

"Yup," he answered shortly.

"Bye." She pulled the phone away from her ear and ended the call before Stiles could drive straight off the road.

The house was weirdly silent as Sky pushed herself up from the breakfast bar and wandered out of the kitchen. She had about two hours before Stiles arrived and she wanted to shower and clean the house as best she could. The living room was probably the messiest room, paisley covered blankets and pillows strewn across the sofa, the Netflix logo still displayed on the TV screen. She had been binge watching the first season of the American remake of 'The Killing', and was irritated that she had to wait another few months for season two.

Sky gathered her bedding in her arms, dragging it upstairs and trying not to step on the trailing ends of her duvet cover. She made her bed quickly before running back downstairs and clearing all the food wrappers, plastic bottles and slipper socks from the living room, turning off the television as she passed. She threw the rubbish in the bin and dropped her ice cream tub in the recycling bag, wiping down the kitchen surfaces once she was finished. She jogged up to her room when she was done, making sure that the stitches stayed together. According to Melissa, who had dropped in that morning with several packs of cookies and apologise for not having the time or skills to bake a homemade batch, Sky was healing up quite nicely.

She stripped off her pyjamas until she was standing naked in the bathroom, appraising the bumps and purple bruises that were still fading from her body. They weren't ugly, on the contrary, they made her feel strong and reminded her of what she had survived. She just wished that there weren't as many. She turned on the shower, letting the water warm up as she quickly ran a brush through her hair. Once all the tangles and knots were worked out, she stepped under the steady stream of water, almost groaning as she felt the heat soothe her aching muscles. The power of a hot shower never failed to amaze her and she felt like a new person when she turned off the shower.

Sky sat on her bed, drying her hair as she flicked through random YouTube videos, wondering just how many times people could upload videos of their cats doing incredibly mundane cat things. She didn't like cats. After about an hour, she was starting to get cold, as she was wearing nothing but a towel, and decided to get dressed. She chose a cosy pair of stonewashed skinny jeans and a Stark Industries t-shirt to fit with the theme of the evening. There was still about a half hour before Stiles was due to arrive, so she pulled on her slipper boots and an open grey cardigan and went and sat downstairs, turning on MTV and only half concentrating on the gyrating bodies and repetitive music. It was a fine way to pass the time.

Half six arrived much sooner than she had expected, although Stiles did not arrive with it. Sky hadn't actually expected him to, Stiles had an equally frustrating and adorable inability to be on time for anything. The earliest he would turn up was probably quarter past seven so she wasn't going to stress about it. She instead threw her legs up on the sofa and stretched out, resting her crossed ankles on the arm. MTV was still playing in the background, but the last seven songs had sounded the exact same and it was getting annoying. Skyler switched over quickly, finding a more acceptable channel that was playing some Led Zeppelin and sang along to 'Ten Years Gone' as she scrolled through cute pictures of puppies on her Instagram feed.

Stiles had still not showed by seven o'clock and Sky was starting to get hungry. She entertained herself by hanging off the sofa upside down, the top of her head resting on the floor and her legs slung over the back of the couch. It may have been the blood rushing to her head or the emotional rock music on the TV, but a thought suddenly occurred to Sky. Was this a date? They had done this plenty of times but that was before the earth-shattering, life altering, leg-popping kiss at the Formal. And now Sky had absolutely no idea where they stood. She remembered what Stiles had told her the night that they drove into the back of Peter's stolen car. He hadn't asked her to the dance because he didn't want there to be any chance of screwing up their friendship. Was this gonna fuck up their friendship?

She twisted her body, sitting upright on the couch Did it still count as a date if neither of them specified? Did Stiles even want to date her, or was it one of those 'There's A Legitimate Chance That We Could Both Die Tonight So Let's Make Out' moments. And he did run off straight after to look for Lydia, and had spent most of the night looking dancing with her and having fun and she had looked so beautiful that night in the pink dress. She could understand why Stiles would want to try and distract himself from the knowledge that he could never have her. No. That wasn't fair. None of that was Lydia's fault, and Stiles had reacted just as any kind, concerned person would have. The emptiness of the house was driving her crazy. She needed food.

It was almost nine and Stiles was still not there. Sky was sitting on the floor, back against the couch, nearly halfway through Captain America: The First Avenger. She was fairly sure that the pizza man hated her now because she had spent ten minutes on the phone giving her order, trying to kill as much time as possible until Stiles arrived. Once the food was delivered by the surly driver, she had proceeded to eat an entire twelve inch meat feast pizza, a side order of fries, chicken wings, garlic bread and was still working her way through a bottle of Coke. Sky had started to feel sick quite a while ago, but eating was a good distraction. However, it did make her overly emotional and she had started to cry when Steve had rescued Bucky from the Nazis.

Sky was still hiccuping unattractively fifteen minutes later when she decided that Stiles wasn't coming and there was nothing she could do about it. She wouldn't let herself consider why he hadn't turned up. There were a multitude of reasons to explain why he hadn't been able to make it, but most of them made her feel like shit or worry herself stupid, so she tried not to linger on them. Her leg bounced continuously, her entire body was on edge. Stiles was out there somewhere, doing Christ knows what, and he had no way of protecting himself. There was always a chance that Lydia had turned and possibly hurt them. There was also a chance that the Jeep had broken down. Hopefully, Roscoe's engine had just decided to die again.

She slid her hand into the pocket of her cardigan, pulling out her phone. It was time try calling Stiles. Skyler was getting bored of not wanting to seem desperate, she was going to call him until he picked up the phone and told her that he was perfectly all right. She was halfway through her contacts when the screen lit up, signaling an incoming call, but not from the boy she was trying to reach.

"Hey, Zach," she answered tiredly. As much as liked the guy, she was not really in the mood to talk to him. But she also didn't want to seem like a bitch, so she continued. "What's up?"

"What's up? What the fuck d'you think?" He replied. His tone was desperate and rushed, sounding as if he was concentrating on something more important than this conversation, and Sky had never heard him like this before. It was worrying. "I just heard."

"Just heard what?" She snapped, wrenching her entire body upright. There was an awful silence for the next few seconds and her heart dropped in her chest. "Zach, you're freaking me the fuck out right now. What happened?!"

"They found Lydia." His voice barely raised above a whisper. "They found her in the woods."

"Is she... When they found her, was she..." Skyler couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. She was terrified to know the answer.

"Lydia's alive, she's fine. She just doesn't remember anything from the last two days," Zach reassured her. Skyler could hear the considerable effort that he was making to stay calm and controlled but it still wasn't helping. "They said she was nearly catatonic when they found her, and still naked."

"Wait," she interrupted him, running a hand through her hair. "Who found her, and where, and when?"

"Stiles, and his dad and the Sheriff's department," Zach explained hurriedly. "From what Jackson told me, some guy in an ambulance got him liver ripped out or something out on a road that runs right through the Preserve. You know when you crashed your car the first night here, it was like a half mile up the road. I don't know why Stiles was there, I saw him at the... I saw him earlier."

"I know you were at the funeral," Sky spoke over him. "It doesn't matter. Just tell me what happened."

"Anyway, Stiles was there with his dad and Lydia just wandered out onto the road, stark naked and pretty much out of it." She could hear a squealing in the background and Zach groaning in frustration, much the way Stiles had on the phone earlier. "They just bundled her up and took her to the hospital about an hour and a half ago"

"Are you driving right now?" She asked, standing up off the couch and moving to the kitchen. Sky peered out of the window at her driveway as if Zach would suddenly appear in the empty space.

"Yeah. Natalie told me that Lydia can have visitors, so I'm heading to the hospital to see her now. Do you want me to get you?"

"Yeah," she told him. "I'm at home, and I'll be ready any second."

"Alright, I'm just passing Danny's street, I'll be there in about five minutes." He ended the call without saying goodbye.

Sky dropped her phone into the pocket of her cardigan, biting down on her lip to keep her from screaming. Just for a moment, one beautiful moment, she had thought that it might be over. That the supernatural bullshit was at an end. Then Derek had appeared in her room last night, even then, Sky had convinced herself that he wouldn't be a problem. He wasn't exactly a bad person and she was sure that his Alpha reign would be quite different from Peter's few months in that role. He wasn't a murderer at least. But then Lydia disappeared into the woods for two days, she was healing like a human but she wasn't dead, and even Derek knew what the fuck was going on with her.

She rested her elbows on the edge of the sink and dropped her face into her hands, letting a few tears slide down her flushed cheeks. Lydia was the best friend she had made since moving to Beacon Hills, aside from Stiles but that seemed to be slightly more than friendship, and she had had absolutely nothing to do with Peter but she was still attacked because of her association with Skyler and, in some small way, Scott and Stiles too. Sky felt a sudden sob escape her body and clamped a hand over her mouth, trying to stop herself from shaking. She did not need this right now, she did absolutely not need this. What she needed was to be calm and composed and to be there for her friend.

She pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes, making sure that there were no more tears trying to escape before she shook her head. Grabbing a pen and a fresh sheet of notepaper from the counter, she scrawled a quick note for Rebecca. She knew that the woman would panic if she returned home and Sky was nowhere to be seen. Her shoes were in the hall and it took all she had not to scream as she tried to slip on the low top Converse without having to untie the laces.

Sky was standing on the wraparound porch, wringing a black 'Neverland' beanie in her hands. The night air was cold, and not a bracing coldness, it was a chill that seemed cut right to the bone. Hopping from foot to foot seemed to be the only way to keep marginally warm. It had been about four or five minutes before Zach pulled up to the driveway. Sky jammed the beanie onto her head and jogged down to his car, seeing him glare as she opened the door before the car had come to a halt.

"Don't stop, for Christ's sake, just go," she snapped as the car began to slow.

"Well how the fuck are you meant to get in when I'm still moving," Zach sniped back, pressing his foot down harder on the brake.

"I could get in perfectly fine by myself, thank you." Her voice was frosty, biting. Neither of them were quite sure why they were snapping at each other. They had never fought before, the closest they had ever come to it was the awkward silence at the Formal. It had never been like that before. More than likely , it was the stress that was flowing through both of their veins that was setting them on edge.

"Are you in the car yet?" He called without turning his head to look at her. "Can we go?"

"Well I'm not stopping you," Sky replied, throwing herself uncomfortably into the passenger seat and slamming the door behind her with all the vehemence she could muster. "How did you know?" She asked quietly before pulling away from the curb.

"Know what?"

"About Lydia."

"Jackson called me about two minutes before you called me. He said that he had known for an about hour," he told her, still refusing to look in her direction. Sky's eyes trailed over his face and she noticed for the first time that his chin was quivering, and even the obvious tight clench of his jaw couldn't stop it. "Stiles called him, Jackson thought I would want to know, seeing as she's my friend too."

"Stiles called Jackson?" She asked shrilly, irritated at how weak and broken her voice sounded.

"I didn't even know that they liked each other," Zach murmured more to himself than her.

"They don't," Sky replied quietly.

She glared down at her hands, scrutinising every inch of her lap to keep the tears from welling over. She could feel the familiar burn at the back of her eyes, and knew that she was moments away from bursting like a floodgate. Why the fuck had Stiles not called her first?! Who else had he called, Allison, Danny, even fucking Derek maybe?! So, Stiles had told her he would come over, then gone to the funeral, wandered through the woods for an hour or two, stumbled across a crime scene, found her best friend and taken her to the hospital, and then called one of the people he hated most in the world, but hadn't even found the time to call her.

Okay, so Sky didn't not want to be one of those clingy girlfriends, (Was Stiles even her boyfriend?!) but she would've expected at least a call. Stiles had once called her at two in the morning because he found an interesting theory about how Captain America was a real person and is still alive and in cahoots with the lizard people that are in control of the American government. It seemed logical that Stiles would at least text her.

"He was busy," drawled the nasty little voice inside her head. It was the voice that seemed to only emerge when she was feeling insecure or that she wasn't good enough or angry or when she knew that she was being unreasonable. It was the voice that usually invaded her mind whenever she was thinking about Stiles. "Busy with Lydia."

She fought the urge to tell the voice in her head to shut up, because then she really would be going crazy. She rolled her shoulders and cracked her neck, pursing her lips.

"Lydia takes precedence. She will always be his first choice." The voice was beginning to sound suspiciously like Peter every single time that he had even taunted her. "He skipped out on your date to look after Lydia. He couldn't even be bothered to call you."

"That's not fair."

"What?" Zach was staring over at her in confusion. She had spoken out loud.

"Nothing," she shot back, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm fine."

"It's not fair about what Stiles did," Zach muttered. "I know you guys had a thing tonight. He sorta mentioned it to me at the funeral. He should've called you, or texted, or anything really."

"It's not that, it's... Lydia... She just... Stiles, y'know." Sky tilted her head back against the head rest and closed her eyes. It wasn't fair of her to be angry. Lydia needed serious medical attention, and Stiles just happened to be there with her. Sitting next to her as she lay prone on her hospital bed, again. Was she cut, bruised, bleeding? Was she hurt? Sky could almost sense Zach trying not to glance over at her as her breath began to get faster and shallower with every passing second. She was not going to have a panic attack right now. Seriously, not right now. "Talk to me, please."

"Okay, it's gonna be okay," Zach said, looking over at her, completely startled at her sudden freak out. "So, Stiles told me that-"

"No, not him," she interrupted, clutching at her chest. "He's all we ever seem to talk about. Please just, something else." Anything besides Stiles, and the horrific mental image of Lydia hooked up to an IV drip, ventilator over her mouth. She let out a gasp as the breath seemed to be sucked out of her lungs.

The noise seemed to come out as a mixture between a scream and a sob. Sky felt her entire body slam into the car door as Zach swerved over to the hard shoulder, braking suddenly. They came to an almost painful jerking stop, pressed up against the metal railing. She heard Zach unbuckle his seat belt, and felt him reach down to undo hers. His arm reached across the seats and wrapped around her, pulling her against his chest. Sky pressed her face against his soft t-shirt and let herself cry. Zach's hand rubbed up and down her back and her entire body trembled with the force of her tears. She shook her head as hard as she could, trying to rid it of the image of Lydia that seemed as if it would be permanently burned into her brain. If Derek was right, Lydia was something new, something he hadn't seen before. That meant it was only going to get worse from there. It also meant that Derek needed to get his head out of his ass, 'cause for this one, well, they were gonna need all the help they could get.


	4. Prison Break

_**Hey guys, here's the next chapter. Hope it's long enough! I've got a few reviews with people saying they really like Zach, so just to let you guys know, I'm going to be trying to feature him in more chapters. And also, especially for you (because your review was awesome), Stiles and Skyler will be having their big 'What Are We' conversation in the next chapter or two, but for now I hope you guys enjoy this one. Read and review X**_

"You really don't remember anything?" Allison asked for the fourth time.

"No, she obviously doesn't. That's why she has said that she doesn't remember anything every time that you asked," Skyler threw back.

The two girls were standing on either side of Lydia, walking up the front steps of the school. The redhead had been sitting up, perfectly alert and just as sassy as usual when Skyler arrived at the hospital the night before last, following her nearly hour long breakdown in the car with Zach. Scott wasn't there and Stiles had been dragged home by his father for a serious talking to about his habit of turning up at crime scenes. Her and Zach had sat in with Lydia, feet resting on her bed, until almost midnight when they had been told to leave.

She had been released from hospital the next day, no one quite sure what to do with her. She was particularly hurt or ill, her wounds from Peter's attack were healing normally. They simply sent her off with a pat on the back and a warning not to go traipsing around the woods naked again. Apparently it wasn't beneficial for her overall health.

Lydia and Skyler had spent the remainder of that day at Sky's house, lazing on her bed in sweat pants and baggy jumpers. It was the most relaxed that Skyler had ever seen the girl, and it seemed to do both of them a world of good. They had eaten chocolate and stalked hot people on Instagram. It was a good day. But it had to come to an end, so that morning, Sky had pulled on her most comfortable pair of jeans, a long-sleeved Blink 182 shirt, a cosy black hoodie and a pair of Aztec patterned high tops that shed found under the stairs, and let Rebecca drop her to school. She had waited for Lydia, sitting on the wall by the steps for nearly twenty minutes before her friend turned up with Allison in tow. Skyler and Allison had spent the last few minutes sniping childishly at each other while Lydia rolled her eyes at them.

"They called it a fugue state," Lydia interrupted loudly as Allison opened her mouth to retort. "Which is basically a way of saying 'We have no idea why you can't remember running through the woods naked for two days.'" She stopped just outside the main doors, glancing over her shoulder and smirking at the girls. "But personally, I don't care. I lost nine pounds." Sky snorted in amusement, hiking her grey cloth messenger bag higher onto her shoulder. Lydia grinned at her, but both girls could see her falter as she turned back to the doors, hesitating with her hand poised to push it open.

"Are you ready for this?" Ally asked tenderly. There was evident worry on her face, but Sky was still fighting the urge not to smack the girl. It wasn't even that Allison had shot her anymore, it was the ease which with the girl had turned on her friends. Okay, so Scott had lied to her, but it was to protect her and the boys had lied to Sky too. The worst she had done when she had found out was throw up and avoid them until she had been hit by a car. She simply did not trust the girl anymore.

"Please," Lydia snorted, turning away from both of the girls, keeping her face passive. "It's not like my aunt's a serial killer."

She pushed forward through the swing doors, leaving the two girls in her wake. Sky's mouth had dropped open in astonished delight. It was a completely bitchy thing to say, but goddamn it, it was amusing. The dark haired hunter simply stared after their friend in shock until Skyler let out the snort that she had been desperately trying to hold in, and Allison turned to face her, glaring intensely. She ducked her head and shuffled through the doors after Lydia, giving up any attempt to hide her smile, but she was forced to stop dead less than a foot inside the door.

She could hear Allison push the doors open behind her, but Sky was focused on Lydia. Everyone in the hall had stopped dead, staring at the petite redhead who was hovering on the spot. The silence was almost palpable and the three girls could practically hear the wheels turning in everyone's head as they stared at the girl who had wandered around naked in the woods for two days. Sky had to fight the urge to bundle Lydia up in warm blankets and hide her away from the world, cuddled up with hot chocolate, but she knew that if Lydia left now, the rumours would simply get worse and worse. They stood there for another few seconds of uncomfortable silence until Allison leaned forward and murmured into Lydia's ear.

"Maybe it's the nine pounds."

Skyler's head snapped to the side, glaring at the girl angrily. Lydia's body had stiffened the second Allison had spoken and the tension was pouring off of her. She took several deep breaths and squared her shoulder, reaching up to toss a strand of hair over her shoulder before striding off down the corridor without a second glance. The people who had been gawping at her moments ago were now scattering every which way, turning their heads away from the Queen Bee. It wasn't as gratifying as it usually was, seeing people run if Lydia looked at them the wrong way, but know they were avoiding her because she was the freak that wandered naked for two days, not the girl to be respected and feared.

"That was unnecessary," Sky told Allison coldly as she fell into step with the other girl.

"And calling Kate a serial killer wasn't?"She shot back quietly, looking slightly ashamed of herself all the same.

"Well, what would you call her?" They made their way up the first flight of stairs that they encountered, dodging sweaty lacrosse boys as they finished their morning training session. "Hmm?"

"She was doing what she thought was right," Allison said quietly. It was not in the least convincing, and merely made Sky roll her eyes.

"And that included torching the Hale house, with kids inside, torturing Derek, shooting Derek, trying to kill Derek," she listed off, checking each one on a finger and pretending to consider it carefully before continuing. "Shooting me, trying to kill me, shooting Scott, trying to kill Scott... Oh, wait. That was you. Carrying out your aunt's orders."

"I told you I was sorry," Allison replied as firmly as she could. "And like you said, I was just doing what Kate told me."

"That is not an excuse," Sky exclaimed, scrunching her face up in disbelief. This conversation was going nowhere, they were both too stubborn to back down. "If I stabbed you because Becca asked me to, you'd be pissed off too. And don't even get me started on what you did to Scott."

"Scott and I are perfectly happy, thank you."

"And that just goes to show how forgiving and borderline stupid he is," Sky came to a stop in front of her locker. "Look, Ally. I don't trust you, and I don't particularly like you. I don't know if I'm ever going to again. Trust or like you, that is." Allison gave her a wide-eyed wounded puppy dog look. "Don't do that, it's unbecoming. Anyway, my point is, you just freaked out because Lydia called your aunt a serial killer. I guarantee that people will say worse about her, to you, or behind your back, before the day is out." The girl made a small pained noise, but Sky just rolled her eyes and continued on. "My point is, you need to get the fuck over it, and be there for Lydia. She's been through a seriously traumatic event and she needs her friends right now. She's hurting, Allison."

"And you think I'm not?" She seemed surprised that Sky would insinuate that her problems were lesser than Lydia's.

"Not in the same way, and not half as much," Sky pointed out. "You're feeling guilty. Very guilt, because you shot people that cared about you, that wanted to protect you. You feel like shit for that, but you're too stubborn to seriously see what you did wrong. Being sorry does not just mean saying sorry. But Lydia was attacked by a fucking psychopath. And she had absolutely no idea what was going on, still doesn't. She was bitten, but no one knows what she is. Lydia's gonna to be looking over her shoulder every single day. And if it was me, I'd be guessing my own freaking sanity. We need to support her, so you need to sack up and get over it."

Allison jerked away from her, almost as if Sky had been holding onto her physically, and turned on her heel, disappearing down the corridor. Skyler shook her blond hair out of her face and glared at her locker. It seemed to be mocking her with its refusal to open when she commanded it to do so with her thoughts. But after a minute of frowning at the metal door she realised that people were staring and she needed to get her books for chemistry. Her first class back simply had to be with Harris. Sky spun the combination lock and yanked the door open ferociously. Now people really were staring. Thankfully, her chemistry book was easy enough to find and she shoved it into her bag, slamming the locker closed and turning around just fast enough to almost collide with the Sheriff's chest.

"Oh. Hi, sir." Skyler was dying to ask him what he was doing there, but before the question could form on her lips, she caught sight of Isaac Lahey behind him, flanked by two other officers. She had a few classes with him, he was a sweet guy, seriously sweet and she had no idea why he would be in any kind of trouble with the law.

"Hey, Skyler. Shouldn't you be in class?" He asked hurriedly. It sounded as if he had somewhere much more important to be, and speaking to her was the last thing he wanted to do right now. She didn't take any offence, he was the Sheriff of a small town with an alarming crime rate. Of course he had somewhere much more important to be.

"I still have about ten minutes before class starts, but I'm headed there now. I've missed a few days and I have stuff to catch up on, so..." Sky couldn't tear her eyes away from Isaac's shaking form. She liked the boy, he was nice and quiet and good company, and she couldn't help but wonder exactly what he had done to warrant a police escort.

"Well, have a good day," Stiles' dad smiled at her and moved on down the hall.

The deputies made to follow him down the corridor and before they could go, Sky stepped in front of the three men, placing a hand on Isaac's arm and peering at him worriedly. She couldn't help but notice that he was shaking and there were small drops on blood running down his hand, presumably from where he had been digging his nails into his palm.

"Isaac," she murmured softly, ignoring the glares that she was receiving from the deputies. "You alright?"

For the first time since he had appeared in front of her, Isaac lifted his head, curly blond hair falling away from his face, and his eyes met hers. Sky took several faltering steps back, bumping into the lockers as she caught sight of the unnatural flashing golden colour of his eyes. A colour that matched Scott's eyes. Isaac was still staring at Sky, now looking absolutely terrified as the deputies pushed past her, pulling him down the corridor after them.

She had found the first member of Derek's pack.

Sky had never been in such a hurry to get to chemistry and was almost ready to scream when she realised that Stiles and Scott weren't there yet. She needed to tell them about Isaac and see if they could figure out just why he was in custody. Hopefully he wasn't actually being detained, maybe just interviewed about something or other. She was perched on the edge of her seat, leg bouncing up and down restlessly, biting her lip as she watched the classroom door for the two boys. There was about ten minutes until Harris arrived in the room and talking wasn't a possibility for another hour. After five minutes of waiting impatiently, people were starting to stare at Sky as she glared fiercely at everyone that entered the room but wasn't Scott or Stiles. Where the hell were they? She had already seen other members of the team who were both showered and changed after their training session, but apparently the only two players she wanted to talk to were talking their sweet, sweet time. There were only two minutes left until the start of class by the time that they hurtled through the door, Stiles panting and Scott frowning worriedly.

"Get your asses over here," Skyler snapped, not caring who could hear them as long as the boys sat themselves down within the next few seconds. Scott peered at her in surprise but dropped down into his seat in front of hers and Stiles' bench. Stiles looked much more uncomfortable, flushed red from exertion and awkwardness. They hadn't spoken since the phone call the day that Lydia was found, and they seemed to have been avoiding each other ever since. It was petty and bitchy and stupid, but whenever Sky had looked at Lydia in the past few days, the horrible little voice in her head reminded her that Stiles had seen her naked, even if it was only for a minute and in incredibly extenuating circumstances.

"What? What's going on?" Scott hissed, twisting around on his stool as Stiles dropped down next to Skyler, not looking at her.

"I found the first member of Derek's pack," she murmured, searching their faces for any kind of shock, but they just stared straight back at her. "It's Isaac Lahey."

"We know. How do you know?" Scott asked, furrowing his dark brows at her.

"I saw his yellow eyes in the corridor when he was being escorted around the school by cops," Sky whispered back furiously. "How do you guys know? And why was he arrested?"

"His dad's dead. Murdered," Stiles chipped in, looking much too excited than was decent for someone discussing a murder case. "They think it was him."

"D'you think he could've done it?" Skyler asked. It would be just like Derek to choose a killer to become the first member of his pack, but she still couldn't manage to convince herself that innocent little Isaac Lahey could harm anyone. She bit her lip, furrowing her brows at the boys and glancing around before continuing on. "If something's happened. If he turned, or...I think we need to call Derek."

"No," both boys replied in unison, Stiles slightly more vehemently than Scott. Skyler rolled her eyes and pursed at them. She wasn't exactly Derek's biggest fan either, but sometimes he was a necessary evil.

"Why would Derek choose Isaac anyway?" Scott wondered out loud.

"Yeah, not to be a bitch, but he doesn't seem like werewolf material if we're being honest," she muttered back.

"Peter told me that if the bite doesn't turn you, it could kill you," Stiles suggested, leaning forwards on his elbows, "Maybe teenagers have a better chance of surviving."

"Doesn't being a teenager mean that your dad can't hold him?" Scott said, face suddenly brightening.

"Well, not unless they have solid evidence," Stiles confirmed.

"Why would it matter if he's held over night?" Sky asked confusedly.

"Full moon tonight," Scott explained. His voice had taken on a slightly more dour tone. "And first full moons are the worst."

"Yeah, I remember," she said. None of them made eye contact for a long few seconds, remembering Scott's first full moon, handcuffs and all. "So, what would happen if he's left in the cell for twenty four hours?"

"He could break out, kill a lot of people and potentially expose werewolves to Beacon Hills," Scott told her. He jerked forward as his lab partner squeezed past, watching them with a distrustful eye. Since the Formal, they seemed to be regarded as the weird group of the school.

"So, what? We hope to God that they don't find anything concrete?" This was getting stressful, and stress was not a good thing to be feel first thing in the morning on the day of a full moon in Chemistry class.

"Not unless they have solid evidence. Or a witness. Wait." Stiles paused, peering around the classroom as if he were searching for someone, taking an inventory of the students. He leaned across the aisle, nearly sliding of his stool as he tried to catch Danny's attention. "Danny. Where's Jackson?"

"In the principal's office, talking to your dad," he replied shortly, sounding like he wished that Stiles contracted a horrible disease that permanently removed the use of his vocal chords.

"What?" He demanded. "Why?"

"Because Jackson lives right across the street from Isaac," Skyler realised with a terrible sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She reached out and grasped Stiles' upper arm, barely noticing his small twitch at the contact. "If anything happened, Jackson would've seen it."

"Witness," Scott murmured.

"We gotta get to the principal's office," Stiles insisted, starting to tap his fingers on the surface of the desk.

"I can say that I'm on my period and get excused," Sky suggested, before realising that that probably wasn't what the boys wanted to hear as their faces scrunched up in disgust. "Sorry," she continued, "That was my excuse for whenever Lydia and I wanted to get out of class."

"Well, maybe we should send Scott, y'know, super hearing and everything," Stiles pointed out, trying to avoid looking at Skyler, who was blushing furiously. "Yeah, the two of us will go."

"What about me?" Sky snapped, head snapping up and glaring at the two boys.

"Well, maybe you should stay here, Sky," Stiles suggested quietly, leaning further away from her as if he was afraid that she was going to hit him. Instead she just raised her eyebrows at him until he gestured weakly at the area in her side that was still bandaged. "You're injured, I don't know if you can handle..." He trailed off as her eyes narrowed to slits.

"Are you seriously still using that as a fucking excuse?" She asked, and Stiles visibly recoiled at her tone. Her voice had dropped to become quiet and sharp. It reminded Stiles of 'The Voice' that his father had told him about. It only occurred on very rare occasions when you had said something, not to make a woman angry, to make a woman furious. "Don't tell me what I can and can't handle. How would you even know what I can handle?"

"Maybe we should just focus on how we're gonna get to the principal's office," Scott interrupted, sounding like he was scared to speak. "Yeah, guys?"

Sky drew back in her seat, glaring at both boys in turn. Any awkwardness or apprehension she had felt around Stiles had dissipated within the last few seconds. She was instead filled with self righteous anger. Sky had been shot, she could not heal like Scott, it had been slow and painful and irritating, but she had waited. She hadn't followed them off into the woods to look for her best friend, she had sat at home like a good little girl, waiting for news. She had waited for Stiles to turn up all the next day, he hadn't arrived. None of them had even let her know when Lydia had been found. Sitting on the sidelines was getting boring.

"Everyone please turn to page seventy three," Harris drawled as he entered the room, slamming his books on the table without even a greeting. Sky could see Stiles glancing over at her out of the corner of his eye as he bounced on the chair, scrunching up a ball of paper in his hand. She tilted her head up, and away from him, pointedly, and childishly, refusing to look at him. Harris gave them all a once over before turning to face the board and raising his hand to start writing up formulas. Skyler bit her lip, face scrunching up as the ball of paper went flying, eventually connecting with the back of Harris'. It gave off a most satisfying little thunk.

"Who in the hell did that?!" He demanded, spinning sharply to face the class. Scott and Stiles' fingers immediately jumped up to point at each other and were sent directly to the principal's office. Sky could see Harris' hand twitching as Stiles hurried past. Everyone in the room could see how hard he was fighting to keep himself from hitting the boy in the back of the head, and right now, Sky wouldn't have blamed him.

Skyler had purposefully sat on her own at lunch, waiting again for the boys to show up. Lydia and Allison were sitting at an empty table across the cafeteria. She had shot Lydia a quick text to ask her if she was okay in between each class, and she had responded each time with 'Fine. Go away.' The two girls knew that Sky was back to splitting her time between the two groups, and occasionally she would spend the day with Danny or Zach. She really needed to branch out her friendship tree.

"Well?" She asked as the boys appeared in the corner of her eye before hurrying to the table and taking their seats across from her.

"They think he's suspect," Scott explained quietly. All three leaned forward, glancing over their shoulders to make sure that no one was listening to them. "They're holding him over night."

"Do they have probable cause?" Sky hissed, dropping her cupcake and running a hand over her face.

"Well, y'know how Jackson lived across the road from Isaac," Stiles cut in. His face was flushed like he had been running, voice excited. It wasn't a happy excitement however, it seemed to be a horrified one. "According to him, Isaac's dad was beating the crap out of Isaac. And Jackson knew, and never said anything."

Sky raised a hand to cover her mouth. She couldn't imagine, never in a million years even imagine, how anyone could look at Isaac Lahey and willingly raise a hand against him, let alone his own father. Understanding bloomed across her mind as she realised why Derek had chosen Isaac. It was because he knew that the boy couldn't refuse, he needed any small bit of power that he could find to escape his father.

"What are we going to do?" She looked between both boys, furrowing her brows.

"Do you think he's innocent?" Scott replied softly, tensing as someone passed close behind him, brushing his chair.

"That's irrelevant now," Sky decided, shaking her head. "If he actually killed his father then, fuck. That's on Derek." She took a large shuddering breath and ran her hands down her face again. "If he stays there tonight, people are going to die, and Isaac shouldn't have to have that on his conscience."

"We need a plan then," Stiles said, surging forward to insert himself back into the conversation and nearly throwing himself across the table in the process.

"We could always hire a lawyer," Scott suggested. He looked so sweet and innocent that Sky couldn't bring herself to tell him that it would take more than a day to hire a lawyer, get them to accept the case and try to absolve Isaac of all blame. Thankfully for Sky, he seemed to read it on her face and his hopeful smile slipped away, everyone falling into a pensive silence.

"We need to let Derek know," Sky broke the quiet. "If he doesn't already."

"I still don't like him," Stiles grumbled.

"Neither do I, but Isaac is his Beta," Scott pointed out to his best friend. "He needs to know. And he might be able to help in some way."

"Alright, so you can go to talk to Derek after school." Skyler started picking at her cupcake again as she spoke. "My car's still fucked and I'm not getting it back for another two days, so Stiles, you can drive the two of us over to Isaac's. We can look for clues. Scooby gang shit, y'know."

"Uh, actually..." Stiles looked down sheepishly. "I kinda have detention after school. Again."

"Why?" She groaned, dropping her head into her hands, smearing some blue icing on her cheek. "What have you done now?"

"Throwing the paper at Harris," he grumbled in response,"Got detention from the new principal."

"What new principal?" Sky's head snapped up, raising an eyebrow.

"At Kate's funeral the other day, more Argents arrived. Allison's parents called them reinforcements," Scott explained. "There was an old guy, Gerard, he was Chris' dad. He was a scary dude. And now he's the principal. He didn't even say anything about what happened to the old principal, he just brought us in and said that one of us had to stay behind for detention." He looked around before leaning even closer to Skyler and continuing. "The other night when we were looking for Lydia in the woods, I saw Gerard Hand an Omega wolf from a tree and cut him in half. With a sword. He said that he wants to rid all of Beacon Hills of werewolves because of Kate."

"Well, fuck this situation," she breathed, leaning back in her chair and stretching her legs out under the table. Her leg brushed against Stiles and he jumped suddenly, sending his chair back a few inches.

"I'm fine. Fine," he told them, smoothing down his plaid shirt. "Nothing happened."

"Alright, we still don't know what to do about Isaac," Skyler said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I can't get over to Isaac's house on my own, and I can't get Becca, Danny, Zach or Lydia to drive me over. There'd be too many questions."

"I could always pick you up after detention, and we could, like, go over then, or whatever," Stiles offered, shrugging with one shoulder. The nervousness in his voice made it seem as if he was asking her on a date rather than suggesting that he brought her to the home of a werewolf murder suspect for a clue hunting session.

"That sounds good," Sky agreed, jamming the rest of her cupcake in her mouth and picking up her bag strap, slinging it over her shoulder. This lunch had been altogether too stressful and she had decided to go and sit with Lydia. She stood, kicking back her chair and making her way around the table. "I'm gonna go and make sure that Lydia's okay. I'll see you guys in trig."

"Sky, wait," Stiles called after her, half rising out of his chair. He reached out a hand and caught her wrist, pulling her in close. "You still have stuff on your face." He raised his free hand and cupped her face, running his thumb along her cheeks, rubbing the leftover icing off of her. "You're-you're good now. You're good."

"Oh. Uh, yeah. Thanks, yeah. Okay." Sky tried to find something to say that wasn't 'yeah', 'thanks' or 'okay'. She failed miserably. It was rather embarrassing that something as simple as Stiles cleaning food off her face could reduce her to a speechless wreck. She nodded shakily at the boys and turned away, immediately slamming into a chair. She threw a small smile over her shoulder at Stiles, fighting to control the blush on her face. Her and Stiles had reached the point where she got butterflies when he wiped icing off her face or told her that he would bring her to Isaac Lahey's house. When the fuck did her life get this weird?

Stiles had ended up in detention for an hour and a half because Harris was a dick, but it did mean that Skyler had time to do some homework and make herself and Rebecca pasta with chicken and some kind of cheese sauce. It had taken nearly fifteen minutes to think up an excuse for where she would be tonight before choosing the closest to the truth, she was studying at Stiles' and didn't know when she would be home. She sat cross legged on the floor at the coffee table, scooping pasta into her mouth and finishing off her Calculus work while Clueless played in the background. She was just licking the last of her food from the side of the bowl when her phone started to buzz. Sky fumbled for the device with her left hand, reaching under the table for it.

"Stiles," she answered, swallowing what food was left in her mouth and trying not to choke. "Hey, you done?"

"Harris kept me in for extra time because he's an asshole and he hates me, but yeah I'm done now and I'm on my way to pick you up," he told her. He managed to get the sentence out all in one hurried breath. It was rather impressive. "And you gotta be ready in like a minute, 'cause I'm nearly there and we need to go. There's an emergency."

"What's the emergency now?" Skyler nearly cried. How many goddamn emergencies could they have in this town?! She pushed herself to her feet as Stiles spoke down the phone to her, delighted that she had decided not to even bother taking off her shoes when she got home that day.

"The Argents sent a hunter out to the Sheriff's station, dressed as a deputy," he explained breathlessly. "With some kind of wolfsbane weapon. He's gonna kill Isaac."

"Fuck. What are we gonna do? we can't just let him die!" She moved into the kitchen to dump her bowl, flicking off the TV as she passed.

"We are gonna go to my dad's office and get the keys to let Isaac out. Derek's meeting us there," Stiles told her. There was a distinctly irritated undertone to the last part of the sentence, making it obvious that, even in situations of dire need, Stiles still did not want Derek to be there with them.

"What about Scott?" Sky threw a gray scarf around her neck and searched quickly through her coat pocket to find her penknife and shove it in her jeans pocket, next to her keys. "We kinda need all the help we can get."

"He's at Isaac's, he had a plan for dealing with the full moon. It's awful and terrible, and he dares to tell me that my plans suck," he grumbled. "I think Allison's going over to help him, so I thought you'd rather come with me."

"Well, you got that right at least," she told him, slamming the front door behind her on the way out.

"I'm here," he called out just as Roscoe screeched to a halt at the foot of the driveway.

"Yeah, I can see."

Skyler slipped her phone into her back pocket, jogging down to the Jeep and throwing herself in as Stiles pushed the door open from the inside. She slammed it shut behind her and tucked her legs up underneath her, shifting around so she could face Stiles. He gunned the accelerator the second that the door was closed and Skt had to brace her arm against the dashboard to stop herself flying off of the seat.

"So, what's the plan?" She asked when Stiles didn't immediately start speaking.

"We're meeting Derek at the station and we just have to get into my dad's office," he told her, without looking over. It was a mark of their loyalty to this town and each other that Sky and Stiles were willing to work together in such an uncomfortable situation to help out someone that they barely knew. "He's got all the keys in a password protected box in his office. I know all his passwords, we just gotta work on getting into the actual office. And try to avoid the Argent agent."

"And then? When Isaac's out, what's going to happen to him?" Sky bit agitatedly on her thumbnail, watching Stiles' facial expression. She could see all the signs of nervousness that he exhibited, eyes darting between the road and Sky, fingers tapping quickly on the wheel, tongue darting out to run over his lips. "Won't he technically be a fugitive?"

"Yeah. But Derek said he'd take him. Hide him somewhere. Not the Hale house, that would be pretty obvious if anyone made a connection between the two of them. I think he's got a new wolfy...lair. Place. Thing. Wherever he hangs out when he's not prowling." Another sign of nervousness, talking incessantly. It was perhaps his most adorable habit of his. "As king as none of us die."

"Stiles, we're all gonna be okay. We always are," Sky told him, forcing her voice to sound much calmer than she actually felt. She reached a hand over hesitatingly, waiting for a second before placing her hand over his and feeling it tense and still under her touch. She gave a miniscule smile, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth and adopting the sort of voice people used while talking to babies. "Don't worry Stiles, I'll protect you from the big scary werewolves."

"Aha aha ha ha," he laughed sarcastically, but there was no malice behind it. It seemed like some of the ease that they had had before the kiss was returning.

He pulled his hand off the wheel, turning it over in her grasp so that he could hold onto it. It was the most comforting thing he could've possibly done at that moment. Romantic movies seemed to emphasise the beauty of hugging or kissing your loved one, but they all seemed to underestimate the immense power of someone simply taking hold of your hand with theirs, just to let you know that they were there and that they cared. They didn't speak for the rest of the journey but neither felt like they needed to. A conversation about them would come soon, but right now it was unnecessary. They sat in the car for a few minutes, waiting for Derek doing nothing but holding hands and looking straight ahead. Skyler knew that they needed him to help Isaac but she had to resist the urge to smack him for disrupting their beautiful silence by wrenching open the Jeep door and telling her to get in the back. She rolled her eyes but complied, knowing it was fruitless to argue with him. Stiles didn't let go of her hand until she was comfortably settled in the back seat.

"Okay, now the keys to every cell are in a password protected lockbox in my father's office." Stiles dove right into the plan, trying to avoid eye contact with Derek. All three of them in the car could practically feel the tension. Stiles and Derek plainly did not like each other, and the last time Sky had seen Derek, he had been in her room offering her the bite. "The problem is getting past the front desk," he finished.

Derek peered over Stiles' shoulder into the reception of the station and Sky followed his gaze, seeing an attractive dark skinned woman sitting behind the desk. "I'll distract her," Derek supplied shortly, eyes returning to Stiles, who seemed to flinch under his stare. The werewolf went to open the door but froze suddenly when Stiles reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa... You? You're not going in there," Stiles said, an almost amused tone in his voice. It fell away when Derek's eyes flickered down to Stiles' hand that was locked on his leather jacket before raising to the boy's face and repeating the action several times, keeping his face stony. "I'm taking my hand off," he declared, voice shriller than usual. Sky hid her smirk in the back seat. Derek may act like the big bad wolf, but Sky knew that there was no way in hell that he would actually hurt Stiles.

"I was exonerated," Derek pointed out as if he was speaking to an idiot.

"You were a murder suspect, that suspicion doesn't just go away because of Kate," Sky interjected. She crossed her arms on the back of the seat and rested her chin on her forearms, sticking her head out slightly between the two men.

"Yeah. You're still a person of interest," Stiles agreed with her. It was nice for him to finally have someone who would help him stand up to Derek.

"An innocent person." It was clear that Derek was getting sick of this but neither Sky nor Stiles were exactly happy about letting him go in there with that woman. His go to distraction was usually to punch someone.

"An... You? Yeah. Right," Stiles scoffed, watching Derek with distrustful eyes. The Alpha simply sat still, staring back at him with raised brows and a tired expression. "Okay, fine. What's your plan?" He asked, giving in to what Sky was now calling the Derek Stare.

"To distract her," Derek told them, his voice raising on the word 'distract'.

"Uh. Huh. How?" Stiles asked him. He was getting frustrated too, now. It was almost like he had read Sky's mind on the subject of Derek's methods of distraction. "By punching her in the face?" He clenched his teeth and scrunched up his face, making a little growling noise. It was so cute and unexpected that Sky jumped a little in her seat and made a squeaking noise. Both men looked at her in surprise, Derek rolling his eyes at the pair of them.

"By talking to her," Derek drawled. His hand clenched and unclenched on the door handle, looking at the two of them like he wanted to punch them both in the face.

"Okay, all right. Give me a sample," Stiles challenged. His voice was getting demanding now, he could tell that they were wasting time, but nothing seemed to be able to convince him to let Derek go in there. "What are you gonna open with?" Derek's jaw feathered and he rolled his neck slightly, keeping his eyes on Stiles. "Dead silence. That should work beautifully," Stiles told him sarcastically. "Any other ideas?"

"I'm thinking about punching you in the face," Derek said lightly.

Stiles nodded and leaned back against the door. It was silent for a long few moments before he gestured for Derek to get out of the Jeep. The Alpha jerked the door open violently and flung himself out of the car. It was like watching a teenager have a temper tantrum. Sky crawled back over the seat, settling beside Stiles for a few seconds and watching Derek stalk towards the station.

"Come on."

Sky took Stiles' hand and pulled him out of the door after Derek. Both noticed the imprint of the hand that Derek had left on the handle. Stiles shut the door as quietly as possible after him and they ran across the parking lot, keeping low to the ground. They straightened up as they reached the entrance, slipping in through the nearly closed door, just as the attractive deputy was realising that there was a very attractive man standing in front of her.

"Hi."

Derek spoke in a tone that Sky had never heard him use before. It was sweet and wheedling and unusual. Skyler peered at him in suspicion, wondering who he was and what he had done with Derek Hale. Just when she thought that it couldn't get any weirder, his face broke into a wide, startling smile.

"Hi," the deputy replied, evidently flustered. Sky couldn't blame her for that. She liked Stiles and she thought that he was one of the most attractive men that she had ever met, but when Derek smiled like that it gave her flutters.

"Sky!" He hissed quietly in her ear.

"Hmm?" She asked, drawing her eyes away from Derek flirting to stare at Stiles. He followed her previous line of sight and gritting his teeth and shook his head slightly. Her stomach turned and she felt a guilty pang, so she squeezed their still linked hands. He smiled thinly at her and started to saunter across the room, keeping Skyler pressed up against him. It was surprisingly easy as the woman was still distracted by the adorable smile on Derek's face. Sky and Stiles ducked through the door to the back offices just as they heard Derek chuckle. Actually chuckle. Just as they were out of sight, Stiles stopped forcing Sky to run into his back.

"Did you hear that?" He asked quietly, turning to face her. "Did he just...laugh?"

"Why sir, I believe he did," she replied, starting to grin.

Stiles watched the smile form on her lips and couldn't stop himself from grinning back. He couldn't help himself from smiling whenever Sky did. Her smile was beautiful. It pulled up slightly more on the left side and she always bit down on her lower lip, like she was embarrassed to be seen with a smile on her face. If she was really happy, the side of her eyes would crinkle up and her nose would scrunch and she would start to laugh. It made Stiles want to kiss her all the more.

"Alright, get yourself together Stilinski. Stop screwing around," Skyler demanded with no real authority. "We have a job to do."

"Who's in charge here, Gray? Who knows this place? Huh? Me." He raised his eyebrows jokingly at her and swung their conjoined hands. "I'm gonna go to my dad's office and get the keys. You go to the holding cells and make sure that he hasn't changed yet. Okay?"

"Got it," she nodded. Then a thought hit her. "Stiles. Where are the holding cells?"

"Down that hall, to the right, last door on the left," he instructed, pointing her down the main corridor of the T-junction that they were at. "You should be able to get into the main room, but not the actual cells. Just wait for me there, I just need the keys."

"Got it," she repeated, as he pulled away down the corridor to the right. "Stiles. Be careful." She called out just as his fingers were about to leave hers.

He looked at her for a second before grasping her hand tighter and pulling her towards him, catching her as she stumbled into his chest. He let go of her hand and she immediately placed her hands on the gentle curves of his waist. He brought both hands up to her face, cupping her cheeks and tilting her upwards. Stiles ducked his head and let his lips meet Sky's. He was warm and soft and applying the perfect amount of pressure to her mouth. Her body tingled fiercely as he tilted his head to the side, and she grasped at the t-shirt under the plaid. Neither of them made the attempt to push it any further, knowing that it would lead to a make out session that they absolutely did not have time for right now. Sky's chest was heaving as he pulled back, even though they hadn't been kissing for more than fifteen seconds. Stiles just had the ability to leave her breathless.

"Be careful," he whispered, dropping his hands away from her face and backing down the hallway.

"Stiles," she hissed out after him again. "We talk about this. Us. Later. Yeah?"

He nodded vigourously, keeping his gaze on her as he walked into a filing cabinet and tried not to swear loudly. Sky giggled, covering her mouth as she watched him disappear through the door to the offices. She turned slowly, peering down the corridor apprehensively. She had never been here on her own before and it was even creepier at night. Skyler took a few slow steps forward, gathering her courage and keeping one hand on the wall almost like a safety rail. It took nearly a minute to get down a ten foot hallway, and turned to the right.

It was lighter in the next corridor and Sky felt herself relax. She hovered at the edge of the hallway, wondering whether or not she should wait for Stiles to arrive because she didn't feel like going in their on her own. Sky danced on the tips of her toes for a few seconds, then rolled her eyes at herself, telling herself that she was ridiculous. Walking down the hallway, there was the strangest sense of foreboding. The closer she got to the holding cells, the worse this feeling became. It was like a wave rolling over her. It was too bright. It was too quiet. It felt wrong, but there was nothing she could do as she reached the door of the holding cells.

She poked her head around the door frame, taking in the state of the room. The door of the holding cell directly opposite her was wide open, the top half was bent forward a few inches, coming away from the hinges. Isaac was not inside the cell. Skyler stepped inside, moving with trepidation. The other holding cells were empty, which meant Isaac had either attacked or released the other detainees, or, hopefully, there had been no other people in the cells that night. Her heart stopped for a second when she heard a low growl from a darkened corner of the room.

"Isaac," she whispered tentatively. "Isaac, is that you? It's me. It's Skyler. We're here to help you."

The growl lulled again for a moment, then began again with a renewed intensity. She held out a hand, palm facing him, in a placating gesture but started to back away once she saw amber eyes flicked up to rest on her face. In hindsight, it had been stupid of Skyler to come in here on her own once she had seen the wreckage of the cell. Isaac slid away from the corner, keeping close to the wall. He was still dressed in a sweet blue sweater that made him look like he belonged in a church choir. His t-zone was heavier and pronounced, the tip of his nose pressed in, almost flat. Isaac's curly blond hair had extended downwards in two thick sideburns and Sky could see the pointed tips of his ears poking out from either side. His eyes were the familiar shade of yellow that she had seen on Scott before.

Making a run for it was not an option and fighting was out of the question. Isaac was faster and stronger, and it was his first full moon. Everything was magnified. Her back hit the wall at the exact same second that the Sheriff's Station emergency alarm was sounded. For a second, she hoped that one of the officers had been alerted to the situation, regardless of the consequences of a deputy discovering werewolves. She turned her head to the door to see a uniformed officer backing into the room. Sky was about to shout a warning when she noticed that he was bleeding steadily from a wound caused, she assumed, from he arrow sticking out of his leg, and that he was dragging a flailing Stiles behind him, with one hand over the boy's mouth.

"Stiles!" She shrieked, forgetting all about the angry werewolf in the room with them.

He looked up at her with wide, worried brown eyes as the hunter dropped him on the floor, clutching a syringe full of a purple liquid in his free hand. She raised her hand and jammed a finger at the empty cell, both men's eyes flickered towards the open door, faces dropping in shock. Stiles shuffled closer to Sky as Isaac lunged, taking all three of them by surprise. He collided with the hunter, knocking him backwards. He slammed the hunter down onto a table next to Skyler and she jumped in fright, letting out an undignified scream.

Stiles scuttled over to her as quickly as possible, taking her hand and tugging her down to the ground with him as Isaac and the hunter struggled on the desk. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her calves, making herself as small as possible. Stiles pulled her back flush with his chest, sliding his arms around her and holding her tight, tucking her head underneath his chin and pressing her closer to the wall. He was using his entire body to shield her from from the two men.

Isaac grasped the hunter by his jacket and haul him off the desk. He dragged the older man across the room and threw him against the wall. The man in the officer's uniform raised his hand, holding the syringe like a dagger. Isaac gripped his arm, twisting it downwards until they heard the cracking sound of his arm breaking, and the syringe went skittering across the ground to the middle of the room. Sky flinched in Stiles' arms and burrowed herself even deeper into his arms. The young werewolf took hold of the man's head and slammed it hard against the wall. There was a small dent in the plaster after the man had dropped to the floor and Sky wasn't sure whether or not he was dead.

A leather boot came down with a loud crunching sound on the syringe. Derek looked up slowly from the shattered glass, eyes still human but there was a distinctly dangerous look in them as he watched his Beta. Isaac's eyes stared right back as he drew his lips back over his teeth in a snarl. He seemed to understand that there was no way that he could take Derek and his gaze slid past him and onto Skyler and Stiles, still huddled together on the floor.

He took a step in their direction, growling deep in his throat, and Sky felt Stiles' hands clench tightly in the fabric of her hoodie. Sky peered through her lashes at Derek as he stepped in between them and Isaac, drawing himself up and pulling in a deep breath. He closed his eyes for a few seconds and when they opened they were Alpha crimson. He roared at the younger werewolf, a long, drawn out sound that kinda totally terrified Skyler. It was nothing like when she had heard Peter's Alpha roar, that was purely fear inducing, loud and angry. Derek's roar was dominant. It wasn't to scare or impress, it was to tell Isaac that he needed to understand that Derek was the Alpha and he would be obeyed.

The younger wolf stumbled backwards, eyes wide in shock. He hit the wall and slid down until he was crouched on the floor next to the prone hunter. He curled himself into a ball, tucking his head into his knees and whimpering pathetically. Sky could feel herself relax as Derek let his roar trail off, still watching Isaac apprehensively. Skyler remembered what Scott had told her about Isaac's father and her heart clenched painfully. If she was a better person, she would've gone to him and tried to comfort the shaking boy, but she was still scared to be anywhere near him. She would much rather stay wrapped up, comfortable and safe, in Stiles' arms. Derek glanced over at them, checking them for any injuries. His eyes snapped back to Isaac as he raised his head, werewolf features melted away.

"How did you do that?" Stiles asked softly, letting his arms drop from around Sky. She disentangled herself from his ridiculously long limbs and flopped down on the floor next to him, leaning her back against the wall. Stiles mirrored her position next to her, tilting his head back to rest on the plaster. They were both breathing heavily, chests heaving.

"I'm the Alpha," Derek explained simply, looking at them over his shoulder.

"Well, that's great," Sky panted. She was embarrassed at how shaky her voice was. "But we need to go. And you need to control your goddamn pack."

"Thanks for the tip," he sneered, striding over to her and sticking out his hand.

She gripped it and allowed herself to be pulled upright. He let go the second Sky was on her feet and she stumbled, leaning over to put her hands on her knees. She could see Stiles scramble upwards out of the corner of her eye as Derek went to haul Isaac up too and after a second she could feel Stiles' hand on her back.

"You okay?" He whispered in her ear, and it sent an inappropriate shiver down her spine.

"I'm good. Okay, I'm okay," Sky told him. She straightened up after a few moments and smiled weakly at his, noticing that his hand that had moved from her back to her shoulder was shaking. Surging forwards, she gave him a quick hug, winding her arms around his neck and stretching on tip toes to rest her chin in his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her waist, clutching at her jumper. They separated after nearly half a minute when Derek coughed pointedly. He was standing across the room, watching them with an exasperated expression. He had one of Isaac's arms slung around his shoulders and was supporting the boy.

"Like you said, we need to go before actual cops turn up," Derek drawled, steering Isaac towards the door.

"Derek," Sky called, his words drawing something to the forefront of her mind. "Where's the officer from the front desk?"

"She went to get us coffee," he told her lightly.

"Are you serious?" She asked him. "You sent her to get coffee? By smiling at her?"

"Yeah. Would you rather she be here right now?"

"And people say that men are pathetic," Sky muttered, stretching her arms above her head. Derek held up a hand and they fell quiet. She furrowed her brows at him.

"Sirens," he said, almost to himself. "Emergency alarm sent a signal to all the patrol cars. We need to go. Now."

"Let's go, then," Sky agreed, taking Stiles' hand.

"You guys go," he replied, brushing her hand off. "I gotta stay. Someone needs to explain this to my dad."

"Are you sure?" She asked, crossing her arms and glancing at the hunter.

"If he comes back and finds this, there are gonna be questions." He reached up and ran a hand over his hair. "If I have an excuse, he won't look too far into it."

"Stiles, if they think that you had something to do with Isaac escaping..." She bit her lip and trailed off, letting the threat of the consequences hang in the air.

"They won't," Stiles promised her.

"Sky," Derek snapped from the doorway. "You need to go if you're going."

"Stiles, I can stay if you want me to," she offered sincerely. She felt bad for considering leaving him there.

"Go. Rebecca already thinks that every time you go out, you end up in hospital," Stiles smiled gently at her and let his fingertips play gently over her stitches. "And your dad hates me and thinks I'm a terrible influence. Go home, I'll call you later."

"Alright," Sky conceded. She was slightly thankful that he had told her to go. It was nearing midnight and she was bone tired. "This time you actually call me, alright?"

"Alright," he murmured.

Stiles looked over her shoulder at Derek who was still hovering and glaring. He shifted uncomfortably under the Alpha's glare but he bent down and brushed his lips against Sky's gently, not even closing his eyes. He pulled back and blushed as Derek growled in annoyance and rolled his eyes at them.

"Okay, now go," Stiles said, pushing her gently towards the door that Derek and Isaac had finally disappeared through. "I'll call you."

"Okay," Sky replied, grinning widely. A kiss that only lasted a few seconds should not have the power to make her this light headed. She made it to the door without looking over her shoulder, but as she was leaving, she glanced back. "Stiles. We really need to have that talk."

He nodded and shooed her away with his hands just as Derek yelled 'SKYLER' from the emergency exit down the hall. She rolled her eyes and followed him, having to hurry down the corridor to catch the door before it swung closed behind the pair of werewolves. She slipped through the door just in time and felt a sudden welcome rush of cool air. She was about to ask Derek what the plan was when she realised that he hadn't snapped at her in several seconds, and looked up in confusion to see why he wasn't berating either her or Isaac. It was because she was alone in the parking lot.

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" She shouted aloud. Of course Derek would leave her alone. He hadn't even driven here, how was she expecting him to bring her home? He and Isaac could probably run home. "Fucking werewolves."

Sky's loud and sweary monologue was interrupted by several patrol cars pulling into the lot. She crouched low, keeping by the wall, and duck walked along. Thankfully, everywhere in this town seemed to connect to the Preserve and she knew a sweet little wooden bridge a few minutes away from the station. Sky had gone there once with Lydia, Jackson, Danny, Zach and some other people whose names she had never learned. She made it to the edge of the building without incident and peered around the corner. She wasn't visible from the entrance of the building now, but she had to make a dash across the parking lot and hurdle a chain. Standing upright, she watched several officers, including the Sheriff, hurry into the building before taking a deep breath and sprinting the thirty feet of tarmac and throwing herself over the chain that surrounded the lot of the station.

She allowed herself to slow to a jog once she was into the trees and out of sight. The bridge was about five minutes away at the pace she was going, and even when she reached it, she still didn't have a way home. She was forced to pause for a moment as she climbed over a fallen tree. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. She was still sitting astride the trunk as she unlocked the screen and ran through her contacts. Sky felt bad about doing this, but it was either drag him out to collect her or try to walk home, which would get her lost, take hours and probably give her hypothermia. Ending up in hospital again was not an option and she was fairly sure that Rebecca would murder her if she called her from the middle of the woods at midnight when she was meant to be with Stiles. So, this was kind of her best choice. Sky found Zach's name and pressed the 'CALL' button. He picked up on the second ring.

"Hello?"

"Okay, so I know that you're going to think that I only call you when I need a lift, but-"

"Where are you?" He asked. Rather than exasperated, he sounded oddly amused.

"That little wooden bridge by the Sheriff's station," she told him, sliding off of the tree. "In the Preserve."

"You need me to get you," he guessed.

"Zach, I promise, I will take you out for dinner," Sky said, starting to jog again. "Somewhere nice, I swear. To make up for all the crap I dump on you."

"Unnecessary, but I will accept the offer," Zach laughed down the phone at her. "Do I want to know what you're doing in the woods at midnight?"

"Uh. No," Skyler decided.

"I'll be there in fifteen."


	5. Ice Ice Baby

_**AN: Hey guys. Sorry that this chapter took ages, but I'm sure that you're used to it by now. I've had barely any time to write, exams have been kicking my ass and they start in three weeks. But I was super happy today (BECAUSE I AM GOING TO SEE THE IRISH MIDNIGHT PREMIERE OF CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR IN MAHON POINT TOMORROW!) so I decided to spend the day writing so that you guys could hopefully have some happiness too. I hope you guys like this chapter, it has THE TALK in it. And finally, to clear something up, I refer to Skyler and Stiles as Styler, that is their ship name to me. So, enjoy and keep the reviews coming, I love hearing from you guys! xx**_

Coach had found a particularly nasty method of exercise for today. The climbing wall. On the one hand, it meant that Sky didn't have to spend the next hour running and getting all horrible and sweaty, but on the other hand, she had to be strapped into a harness and climb a wall the size of a house in front of the rest of the class. The harness was possibly the most uncomfortable thing she had ever worn and rode right up into her unspeakable area. And it just had to be the day that she had chosen to worn yoga pants to gym. Thankfully, Coach had picked Zach to be her partner who had been kind enough to slow down and wait for her as she dragged herself up the wall. Sky was now waiting on the ground with Stiles, discussing the lizard creature from last night as he waited for his turn.

"So it had a tail?" She asked him incredulously for the seventh time.

"That's what Scott said," he confirmed, watching the werewolf in question sliding himself into a harness along with Allison. "A really big tail. And it was all reptiley and green."

"Well it was a lizard monster," Sky pointed out calmly. For a few seconds, she wondered how her life had reached the point at which lizard monsters no longer seemed impossible, or even improbable. They seemed perfectly sensible. "And why doesn't Scott have a tail?"

"He would look very cool with a tail," Stiles said pensively.

"I know, right?" She replied. Smirking, she kept her eyes on Scott as he started to ascend the climbing wall. Allison was already a few feet above him. It always surprised Skyler that for a werewolf, a supernatural creature that was known for its speed and agility, Scott still seemed to be incredibly awkward and ungainly. "Would it be a long and puffy tail or a little cotton ball rabbit tail?"

"Long and puffy," Stiles decided after a few moments of deliberation. "And he could use it to pick things up and throw them around. He could learn how to use it to write. No more hand cramps."

"I like the way you think, Stilinski," she murmured in a pseudo thoughtful tone. "I like the way your mind works." She leaned into his side and he glanced around to see if anyone was watching before he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Get a room, Stiles, you slut," Zach whispered from behind them. Stiles jumped in terror and retracted his arm from around Sky with a choking noise.

"Stilinski! What the hell are you doing?!" Coach yelled across the hall, blowing profusely on his whistle. "Get over here!" Stiles scuttled away, watching Zach warily.

"That was mean," Sky commented lightly, and she shoved Zach's arm gently. "And uncalled for."

"Yeah, but it amused me," he told her in the tone of a child that didn't understand why it was being scolded. "And you shouldn't be acting that in public. It's a gosh darn disgrace."

"You're a disgrace," she mumbled absentmindedly. She tilted her head to the side to grin at the sight of Coach glaring at Stiles and holding his whistle to his lips, preparing to burst someone's eardrums at a second's notice. Despite the fact that she despised his subjects, Coach was her favourite teacher by far.

"Well after what you told me last night, I think you should be wearing a chastity belt," Zach said in the most condescending tone he could manage.

"We kissed. Once. Kind of twice," Skyler told him, smiling to herself at the memory of Stiles' lips on hers. "We didn't screw on a desk or anything."

"You've got a big stupid smile on your face," he pointed out, nearly jabbing her in the face with a finger. "You look high."

"I feel high when I'm with him," she murmured softly. It took a second for her to realise exactly what she had just said, and that she had said it out loud, and groaned in embarrassment, wishing she could just curl up in a hole and never emerge again. "I can't believe I just said that. I feel sick. I am sickened. Sickened with myself."

"I am sickened with you too," Zach said. He stared at her in a kind of disgusted horror as she bent over, hands on knees and head down. "I never thought you'd be that kind of girl, you hate romancey stuff. I don't want to be friends with you if you're turning into a girl from a romcom." He paused for a second, eyes jumping between her and Stiles. "Unless it's that movie with Chris Evans, 'cause I mean...woah. I'm straight, but that guy could turn a man. And Stiles is totally not Chris Evans."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" She asked, scrunching her eyebrows together. Allison and Scott had unharnessed themselves and were standing at opposite ends of the room, Allison with Lydia and Scott on his own. "Why are we discussing Chris Evans?" Coach was throwing a harness at Stiles which sent him back several steps.

"'Cause he's hot," Zach explained simply.

"Are you sure it's just Danny that's gay?" She asked for the millionth time. "I mean sure, sure?"

Coach had finished glaring at Stiles and had summoned Erica Reyes to accompany him up the wall. Sky's stomach clenched painfully as she heard a few people laugh quietly at the tremor in Erica's hands as she pulled on the harness. She looked slightly bloated under her gray sweater, and her acne was flaring up worse than usual. Her entire body ached with guilt as she saw Erica's eyes flicker towards Stiles and the resulting blush that spread over her cheeks and the rush to try and smooth down her hair and clothes. Stiles just glanced over his shoulder and smiled at Skyler nervously. She shot him a quick thumbs up, then turned back to Zach who was giving an impassioned speech about how he didn't have to be gay to appreciate other men's bodies.

"And I mean, it would be a sin to not appreciate all that beauty in the one body. It's ridiculous, they're ridiculous," Zach was saying when she tuned back in. "It's like you and Scarlett Johansson. You appreciate how hot she is and you're not a lesbian."

"No, no, no. I don't appreciate Scarlett Johansson, I am sexually attracted to Scarlett Johansson," Sky corrected him. "I would have sex with Scarlett Johansson. I want to have sex with Scarlett Johansson." She pointed at Stiles with a proud smile as he clambered, surprisingly nimbly, up the climbing wall.

"And I would have sex with Chris Evans," Zach said in a satisfied tone. "So you get my point."

"Yes, I understand," she told him, rolling her eyes at him. "Now look at Stiles. Look at how well he's doing."

"Yeah, I'm very proud of him and well done for picking a man who's so good with his hands," Zach muttered sarcastically without any real malice. "You have excellent taste in men."

"No need to be an asshole," she joked lightly. "Just because you're jealous that I claimed Chris Evans first." They had recently started lists on which they claimed celebrities that they thought were hot, once a celebrity was claimed, they were off limits to the other. It was a very serious thing.

"Yeah, but I claimed Hayley Atwell and..." He trailed off as Stiles started to rappel down the climbing wall, passing Erica on the way.

It was the first time that either had noticed that Erica was stock-still halfway up the wall, clutching at her rope. Her hands were shaking terribly, eyes squeezed shut. Stiles was hitting the ground as the talking began to die out and people started to stare at Erica. He looked around worriedly, wondering if they were all staring at him before noticing that his climbing partner hadn't moved in nearly a minute. Sky could practically see his mind working and knew that he was wondering whether or not it was something that he had done that had affected Erica so greatly. Sky pushed her way through the crowd that was gathering around the base of the wall to where Scott and Stiles were standing next to Coach, Lydia on the other side. She reached Stiles and slid her hand into his, meeting his equally worried eyes. Zach followed her, coming to a halt on her right and peering up at Erica with furrowed brows.

"Erica?" Finstock called up. He looked like he wanted to be anywhere else, even rehab. She had heard him mutter 'should've stayed in rehab' a few times in class when he had been having a particularly bad day. The girl glanced down at him and whimpered in fear as she saw the height at which she was suspended. "Are you dizzy? Is it vertigo?"

"Vertigo is a dysfunction of the vestibular system of the inner ear," Lydia told them. Her voice gave the distinct impression that they all should've been aware of this already, and she was disappointed in them for not knowing. "She's just freaking out."

"Lydia," Sky snapped warningly. She frowned up at the girl and bit her lip, squeezing Stiles' hand. It was usually his place to know what to do. "Don't be a bitch."

"Erica," Finstock yelled again, even less compassionately this time.

"I'm fine," she whimpered unconvincingly.

"Coach, maybe it's not safe," Allison said, leaning in to talk to Coach. "You know she's epileptic."

"Why doesn't anybody tell me this stuff? I have to get-" Coach cut off his own disbelieving sputtering. Sky raised her eyebrows, her eyes flying open. She knew that Erica had medical issues but she hadn't known that it was epilepsy. "Erica, y-you're fine. Just-Just kick off from the wall. Th-There's a mat to catch you. Come on," he continued, beckoning her downwards with his hands. The girl was glancing down at them and forcing herself not to cry. After a few more nearly encouraging words from Coach, Erica started to let herself drop down the wall, clinging to the rope. Skyler thought she would die of second hand embarrassment as Erica's feet touched the ground and the her face turned scarlet. Finstock placed a hand on her shoulder as gently as he could manage, although the effects of the comforting hand were then negated by him talking in his usual harsh, barking tone. "See, you're fine. You're on the ground. You're all right. Let's go. Shake it off. You're fine."

She pulled away from him as several people started to laugh lightly in the background, and she saw a few girls pointing at her. Erica took in the room, attempting to hold her head high, before breaking and hurrying out of the gym towards the dressing rooms. Coach pursed his lips and nodded for a few seconds then clapped his hands and ordered the next, and thankfully last, pair to harness up. Sky debated internally for a few seconds about whether or not to go after Erica. She didn't know the girl particularly well, but what had just happened must have been mortifying for her. Skyler extracted her hand from Stiles' and turned, patting Zach's arm as she passed him, then followed Erica into the girls' changing room.

The room was creepy even in broad daylight. It reminded her far too much of the night that Peter had trapped them in the school. She expected to find another dead custodian around every corner. Instead, she rounded a row of lockers and saw Erica, hunched over on a bench, crying quietly into her hands. It wasn't loud and ugly crying, it was the kind of quiet cry that people did when they just couldn't stop.

"Hey, Erica," Sky called softly. "It's Skyler."

The blond girl's head snapped up, her brown eyes bloodshot and the tip of her nose was red and twitching as she tried to stop herself crying. "What do you want?" She tried to snap harshly at Sky, but it came out as more of a squeak.

"I just wanted to make sure that you're okay," Skyler told her, shuffling slowly forward. She felt like she was trying not to spook a wild animal, like Erica was going to bolt any second. "What happened out there was-"

"Embarrassing? Horrific?" Erica suggested, pushing off the bench. "I don't need you to tell me how awful that was, thanks." Her voice was even shakier, but she sounded angrier than she had a moment ago. The tears had stopped rolling down her cheeks and were now just collecting in the corner of her eyes. "I live through that every time I have an attack."

"I didn't know that you had epilepsy," Sky admitted, rubbing her left arm up and down with her right hand. "I just wanted to make sure that you're okay."

"You think I need your pity?" She spat out, facing off against Sky, who was surprised at the vehemence in her voice. "I don't need anything from you."

"Erica, I'm not pitying you. I just want you let you know that I'm here if you need to talk-"

"Well, do you know what, Skyler?" Erica moved so close that they were nearly face to face. Sky felt uncomfortable at the sudden intrusion of her personal space and recoiled visibly, which Erica seemed to notice. "I'm not your goddamn charity case. My life's not suddenly going to turn itself around because you offer me a shoulder to cry so that when you go back to your friends you can feel all high and mighty, telling them how you helped the mad girl, and you can lie in bed at night and feel satisfied that you helped one of the little people!"

"I d-don't think that! That's not what this is!" Sky shouted back truthfully. She liked Erica, and she did want to help her. And okay, so a little bit of the goodwill stemmed from guilt. She knew that Erica had had a major crush on Stiles, and she had even considered encouraging him to ask Erica to the Formal once Sky had decided to go with Zach. She had almost completely forgotten about it after Stiles had kissed her, she was encased in her own happy bubble and everyone else's problems had taken a back seat.

"I don't need you! You think have the answer to everyone's problems, but you don't understand what it's like to have actual problems!" Erica nearly snarled at her. "You have everything you want! Everything you could ask for! Smart, pretty, perfect clothes, perfect house, perfect family, perfect boyfriend!"

Sky cringed at that last one. Just as she was about to retort, the bell rang, signalling the end of gym and girls started to pour through the changing room doors. A few of the girls stopped short at the sight of Sky and Erica face to face, raising their eyebrows. Erica shoved past her, knocking her back several steps with her shoulder and storing out of the room, still unchanged. Skyler rubbed her hands over her face and walked to her locker. Lydia was already standing there, trying to change back into her clothes without showing the bandages still wrapped around one side of her waist. She stripped quickly down to her bra and underwear, not even bothering to respond to Lydia's scoff as she caught sight of the Captain America shield on one of Sky's bra cup.

"What are you brooding about now?" Lydia asked her after a few long moments of contemplative silence.

"I'm not brooding," Sky replied quietly. She reached into her locker and and pulled on a soft cotton shirt that was covered in paint spatters from her art class, and a pair of ripped jeans. "I'm perfectly fine."

"Whatever happened to that girl isn't your fault," Lydia told her sharply. "It's not your fault that she just freaks out all the time."

"Seriously? She doesn't 'freak out', she had an epileptic fit," Skyler snapped at her, throwing herself down on the bench to pull on a pair of low top sky blue Converse. "It could've been really dangerous."

"Since when do you care what happens to her?" Lydia was turning to the left and right, staring at herself in the mirror stuck to the inside of her locker door. "How do you even know her?"

"She's in my American History class. She's nice. And I care about people because I have genuine human compassion," Sky explained. She didn't want to tell Lydia about Erica's crush on Stiles, she felt bad enough about that already without Lydia wanting to know every little detail. She tossed her clothes into her gym bag, stuffed it back into her locker and pulled out her messenger bag, slinging it over her shoulder. "I'm gonna go grab a lunch table, see you in a minute."

Sky slammed her locker door and turned on her heel. She wove her way through the room full of girls getting changed, brushing past Allison as she went. Both girls had an unspoken pact to stay out of each other's way. Their common ground was Lydia, and their concern for her welfare. When Sky was with her, Allison stayed away and vice versa. It worked for them. Pausing at the door, Sky looked back over her shoulder to see Allison making her way to Lydia, laughing at something the redhead had just told her. She'd never have thought it when she moved here, but she had found people that she truly loved, she'd found people who were like family to her. And she would do anything for them.

She pushed the door open and stepped out into the corridor, almost being knocked off her feet by Scott racing past her towards the gym. Any goodwill she was feeling for him was almost instantly eradicated. A door crashed open down the hallway and she saw Stiles sprinting out of the changing rooms after Scott, forcing her to jump backwards to avoid him. Sky stared at them for a second before following them, racing into the gym a few seconds after them, just in time to see Scott catch Erica as she fell from the climbing wall.

"Holy shit, holy shit. What the hell happened?" Sky asked Stiles as she dropped to her knees next to him. Erica was cradled in Scott's arms, twitching and convulsing violently.

"I don't know," Stiles replied sounding terrified. They could hear people gathering behind them, peering over their heads and whispering. "Scott just freaked out in the locker room and ran in here. He made it just in time. She was up there without a harness."

"Put her on her side. Put her on her side," Allison commanded as she slid down on the other side of Erica, watching the girl's body spasm. Scott locked eyes with her for a second before following her orders. "How did you know?"

"I just felt it," he murmured quietly, glancing between the three.

Thankfully, Erica was fine. Someone had actually had the good sense to call an ambulance and it had arrived within to carry her to the hospital where she could be properly medicated. Everyone in her gym class has been given the day off due to 'emotional trauma', or something like that. Sky had felt slightly bad about getting the day off due to someone's medical emergency, but she soon forgot about that when Stiles had taken her to pick up her car, accompanied her home and spent the day watching movies with her. He had even asked her out.

They had been sitting on opposite ends on the sofa, Sky's legs tucked up underneath her. They didn't bother holding hands or cuddling the way that they had before the Formal. Talking hadn't a priority either, it had been pleasantly quiet. Until Stiles had piped up.

"So, d'you wanna go out tomorrow night?" He asked suddenly, voice hoarse from lack of use.

"Like, for dinner? Or is there a wolf problem that needs fixing?" Sky responded without looking over. Whenever Stiles told her that he was coming to pick her up for the night, or that they were going somewhere, it usually ended up with them sitting in the Jeep in ridiculously cold temperatures, waiting for Scott or Derek to stop fucking about in the woods.

"No. I mean, like as us. Hanging out and... And hanging out and stuff," he confirmed, shrugging his shoulders.

"Yeah, yeah. I'd like that," Skyler told him. She pursed her lips to stop herself smiling too widely and looking like an idiot. "So, what are we going to be doing?"

"It's a surprise," Stiles replied, looking delighted with himself for having arranged a special surprise for her. "Just dress warm, and I'll pick you up here at seven. Okay?"

"Okay," she repeated, trying to hide the excited shake in her voice. She had to be cool about this. She could not embarrass herself over this.

"And after, I thought, maybe we could go back to mine and...talk," he suggested hopefully. She could see the effort that he was putting into not looking over at her.

""I'd like that," she said softly. They went back to watching the TV silently until Stiles left at six to bring his father dinner at the station. It was almost back to normal between them and it felt good.

Sky drove herself to school the next morning and nearly cried at the intense feeling of freedom that came with having her car back. She had even decided to leave ten minutes early to go for a little detour through the Preserve and nearly cried when she pulled into her usual parking space and felt the ease which with the brakes helped her slide to a halt. Her first two classes went well, but in the third class Stiles appeared with some slightly disappointing news.

Allison and Scott would be accompanying them on their date that night. Well, she wasn't sure if it was a date anymore now that Stiles' best friend and his secret girlfriend would be there. And Lydia. Stiles had told her that it was never meant to be a double date, but Scott had invoked the Best Friend aspect of their relationship and Stiles had promised that they could come along. They hadn't had much time to themselves since they had told the Argents that the relationship was over so they were tagging along under the pretense that Sky, Lydia and Ally were having a girls' night, and Scott and Stiles were doing whatever the hell they did when they were together. Neither of them had been exactly happy about it, but Scott was their friend and they were both willing to help him out with this. When Sky had found out, she'd told Stiles that if it was turning into a group hang out rather than a date, then she wanted Lydia to come too. Most of her time recently had been spent with the boys and she didn't want Lydia to feel neglected. Stiles had agreed and that was all they had to say about it, aside from Stiles swearing that he'd make it up to her. There seemed to be an ever growing list of things that Stiles had to make up for.

Now Sky was sitting on her own at their usual lunch table, waiting for him. Well, it felt like she was sitting alone at least. Allison's family were still under the impression that she had broken up with Scott, so the two were sitting back to back on adjoining tables, whispering lowly to each other. Skyler sat opposite Scott, picking at her plastic container of pasta and peering over his head at Stiles. He was sitting on a table with a guy in their grade named Boyd. She wasn't sure whether or not Boyd was his first name, and if it wasn't, then she didn't know what his first name was. She also didn't know why Stiles was talking to him.

Sky could see their side profiles, Boyd looked impassive but she could tell from here that he was getting annoyed. Stiles face was doing that little twitchy-scrunching motion that he did whenever he was getting frustrated. Boyd seemed to keep do himself, and judging by the way that he was looking at Stiles, he was regretting his decision to allow Stiles to talk to him. The conversation seemed to lull for a moment and the two stared each other down before Stiles ducked his head, glaring across at the other boy. He slapped what looked like money into Boyd's waiting hand and Boyd passed him something in return that Stiles took and shoved into his pocket. He stood quickly and made his way across the afeteria to their table, tripping over three separate chairs.

"Got what you needed?" Sky asked him as he took his seat next to her. He had looked slightly sour after his encounter with Boyd but his face brightened when she spoke to him.

"Got 'em," he replied. Scott had pulled his attention away from Allison once Stiles had sat down and Stiles turned himself to Scott. "Pick you up right after work tonight and we'll meet at the...where we're meeting, cool?" He shot a look at Skyler to make sure that she hadn't figured out where their super special date was taking place. She shook her head to indicate that she was still in the dark and he smiled proudly.

Sky ducked her head and went back to eating her pasta, letting her left hand rest on the tabletop. Scott and Stiles fell into an easy conversation about how disappointed Stiles was in Scott that he still hadn't seen Star Wars. Sky was putting off the moment that she had to tell Stiles that she had seen all of the Star Wars movies and hated them. Scott was just telling Stiles that he already knew the whole Darth Vader twist, and surely that was all you needed to know about the series, when Lydia appeared in her peripheral vision. She looked just as kickass as ever in her green dress and blazer, but her eyes were red and bloodshot. Sky was pretty sure that she had been crying. Sky opened her mouth to ask Lydia could they speak in private, when the girl slammed her open palms down onto the table.

"What the holy hell is that?"

"It's Eirca," Scott replied gently.

Lydia's eyes were narrowed and fixed on the cafeteria door. Stiles and Sky twisted in their seats to catch sight of what she was staring at and their mouths dropped open. Erica, or at least what used to be Erica Reyes was striding into the cafeteria, glancing around like she owned the place. Her skin was clear and almost translucent in the harsh light, no trace of any acne or imperfections. The bloating was gone, and her hair was long and smooth and wavy an bright blond, no more frizz or split ends. She was wearing a white tank top, that showed off her previously unnoticeable ample cleavage, under a leather jacket. She wore a matching black leather miniskirt that was barely more than a thick belt. Her legs seemed to go on forever and ended in a pair of leopard print high heels. Her lips were painted red and her eyes were outlined in kohl. Erica's smile had gone from cutesy and shy to predatory. There was only one thing, one person, that could so transform a person in the space of a day.

"Derek," Skyler breathed out, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

Sky would've felt a tad hurt at the way Stiles was staring at Erica, but it was completely warranted. The girl did look pretty stunning. Everyone in the room was holding their breath as they watched her, watching her in reverence. She strode to the middle of the room, stopping next to a boy that Sky recognised from her Algebra class. Erica leaned down, giving the spectators an excellent view down her shirt, before plucking an apple off of the boy's tray and taking a large bite. Sky could practically feel every warm blooded male, and quite a few females shifting uncomfortably to hide the rush of blood as Erica reached up and wiped away a droplet that had started to trickle down her chin. Even Sky had roll her shoulders back and look away for a second, because even she had to admit, Erica was hot. Her large brown eyes flickered over to Scott and she winked before placing the apple back on the table and turning on her heel, she left the cafeteria.

"Just a minute, Lyds," Sky muttered more to herself than to her friend.

She rose from the table, already slinging her bag over her shoulder. Stiles and Scott were already on their way out of the cafeteria doors, picking up speed. Scott was being as careful as possible to not break out his werewolf speed. Skyler sped up, weaving between startled looking students, her boots squeaking and sliding on the floor. She caught up with the two boys just as they were making their way down the stairs to the row of lockers that led to the front doors. She had to brace herself to stop her knocking Stiles down the steps. Her chest collided painfully with his back and Stiles reached around and groped blindly for her hand. He dragged her along behind him until they reach the doors, bursting through them at the same time as Scott.

Erica was just climbing into Derek's familiar black Camaro. The driver's side window was rolled down and Derek was smirking up at them with that slightly sexy, slightly scary predatory grin on his face. The sun was blazing in the sky, but he was wearing large sunglasses to cover his eyes, which Skyler assumed were shining red. She had to fight the urge to yell 'pretentious fuck' at him. One of her pet hates was people who unnecessarily wore sunglasses. Derek seemed to be doing his utmost to push every single one of her buttons. His smile widened as the trio watched him nervously before pulling away from the curb and speeding out of the parking lot.

"He's building a pack," Scott said, voicing exactly what all three of them were thinking.

Stiles stared worryingly after the car as it disappeared from sight. "And he's not just gonna stop at two."

The day passed as normally as they could've hoped for after the Derek and Erica incident and Sky managed to get away with a minimal amount of homework. She spent an hour and a half composing an essay on Elizabeth Bishop's use of imagery and attempting to puzzle through her Chemistry questions and American History essay on the Civil War. Eventually, she got tired and stuffed her books into her bag, heading for a shower.

When she was finished, she stepped into her room in a towel. Stiles had said to dress warm and it confused Skyler even more. Where in Beacon Hills could they be going that would be any colder than usual? She chose a baggy black skull print t-shirt tucked into the waistband of a white skirt that rested on her waist and fell to just above her knees. She covered her legs with thick black wool tights paired with chunky brown high heeled boots. Rebecca had dinner ready when she went downstairs at six.

The Sheriff knew that Stiles was going to see Skyler that night, but he was still under the impression that his son would still be spending most of it studying with his best friend. Rebecca knew exactly where Skyler was going and exactly who she would be with. Becca had next to nothing to do with the Argents, and only very rarely saw the Sheriff or Melissa. Melissa simply thought that Scott and Stiles were having a boys study night, the Argents thought that the girls were studying together, and Natalie didn't seem to care what Lydia did. Sky wouldn't call Natalie neglectful exactly, but she wasn't the most caring or attentive parent in the world. Especially after her daughter's two day naked jaunt in the woods.

Sky ate quickly with Rebecca, shoveling down three fajitas, and an ice cream for luck. She was done within twenty minutes and loaded the dirty plates into the dishwasher before running upstairs. She brushed her hair out and plaited it quickly, pulling it forward over her shoulder. Her eyes were ringed with black liner and she ran a strawberry flavoured lip gloss over her mouth, one that Lydia had bought for her. Tugging on a large cream sweater with a cartoon raccoon face on the front, she hopped down the stairs with her phone in her hand. She sat on the couch with Becca watching Family Feud until the doorbell rang.

"Stay here," Rebecca shouted excitedly, holding a hand out to Skyler. "If you don't mind too much, I'd like to open the door and be intimidating."

"Have at it," Sky told her gently, shooing her towards the door. Rebecca was the least intimidating person she'd ever met. She was about an inch shorter than Sky, which meant she was several inches shorter than Stiles, her auburn hair was frizzy and twisted into a bun at the back of her head. She was wearing a knitted sweater that was covered in multicoloured horizontal stripes, like a packet of Fruit Pastilles, with a pointed elf-like hood, and sweatpants. Stiles would probably stutter and embarrass himself in front of Rebecca, but no more than usual. Sky stood and placed herself in the doorway, watching the proceedings.

"So, you're here to pick up Skyler?" The woman was asking. She had only opened the door to Stiles a few seconds ago and he already looked ready to crack a cyanide pill. "What are your intentions with her?"

"Uh, y-yeah. Yes, I-" He cut himself off quickly, peering at Rebecca confusedly. "Didn't she tell you? I'm taking her out. It's a surprise for her."

"Well, yeah. She told me, but... I mean, in the long run... " Becca seemed to realise the few fatal flaws in her intimidation technique at the same time. She was not experienced at this, she already knew exactly what they were planning on doing, and she was asking a sixteen year old who as going on his first real date what his long term plans were with a girl he had only kissed about four times.

"Well, after that, she was gonna come over so we could talk about stuff," he informed her, watching Rebecca cautiously. It was almost like this was some kind of test and he wasn't sure whether or not he was giving the right answer. "And then I can bring her home."

"No, I meant... Alright, you kids have fun," Rebecca gave up, pushing the door further open so that Stiles could see Skyler watching them with a small grin. She pushed off the door frame, and wriggled past Rebecca. She stood facing Stiles and smiled sweetly at him. He was dressed in a black t-shirt, jeans and an adorable purple hoodie.

"Hi," Sky murmured, biting her lip. It was becoming a nervous habit.

"Hey." His eyes roved up and down her body, but not in a creepy way, in a way that made her heart feel like it was going to beat out of her chest. "You look very...," he trailed off, glancing over Sky's shoulder at Rebecca, who was watching him with raised brows and narrowed eyes, daring him to make a wrong move. "Warm. You look very warm."

"I am. I am delightfully warm," Sky told him, eyes flickering back to Becca who still refused to move. "Shall we go."

"Sure, let's, uh, let's go," he agreed and held up one hand. It clutched a piece of waving cloth which he jabbed in Sky's direction.

"And what's that?" Rebecca piped up again.

"It's a blindfold, for Skyler, so she can't see," he explained before pausing as he realised how weird that sounded. "It's not weird."

"I'm sure," Becca told him, shooing them out of the door. "Now go. Have fun, you two." Sky followed Stiles own the front steps, waving to Rebecca over her shoulder. "Oh, and Sky. You're dad's gonna be back in an hour or two but and I think he's gonna go straight to bed, so could you just try and be quiet when you get back please?"

"Nick's back tonight?" Sky asked coldly, squaring her shoulders.

"He didn't..."

"No, he did not tell me."

"Well, he's back from Chicago in a while. The trip ran over," Becca explained looking sheepish.

"Okay," Sky replied shortly. It wasn't Rebecca's fault but it still smarted that she hadn't been informed. However, she was not going to let it ruin her night, and she could talk to her father tomorrow for the first time since she had been admitted to Beacon Hills Memorial nearly two weeks ago. "Right. See ya later."

Becca retreated back into the house, smiling wanly at the pair. Sky wrapped her arms around herself, and her shivers were nothing to do with the wind. Stiles looked downwards, peering at his feet but reached across and grabbed one of her hands. He locked their fingers together and gave her a comforting squeeze. Stiles tugged her towards the Jeep, scurrying to get there before her and opening the passenger side door. He took her elbow and helped her up into the Jeep. Once she was settled in her seat, he brought her hand up to his mouth and brushed his lips across the back of her knuckles.

"Stiles Stilinski, you incorrigible old romantic," Sky grinned stupidly at him and he blushed sweetly. He let go of her, slamming the door behind him and sprinting around the car to climb in his own side as she strapped herself in.

"Right, you have to put this on," he told her once he was inside the Jeep, holding up the blindfold.

"Can I not just keep my eyes closed?" She laughed, flicking the blindfold.

"I don't trust you not to peek," he insisted. "It has to be a surprise, I paid enough for it!"

"You trust me with your life, right? We have put our lives in each other's hands a few times since we met, right?" Skyler asked, waiting until Stiles nodded to continue, "But you don't trust me not to peek?"

"Exactly, now turn around," Stiles instructed. Sky sighed and turned to face away from him, brushing any lose strands of hair out of his way. Screwing her eyes shut, she could feel him resting the cloth over her face, stretching from her forehead to her cheeks. Sky gave a miniscule shudder as she felt his fingertips run over her temples. He tied a tight knot at the back of her head, then let her go.

"Is it okay? Too tight? Loose? Can you see, 'cause you can't be able to see?!" Stiles sounded panicked, and Sky reached out, trying to grasp his hand to calm him down but she simply managed to smack her hand off of the dashboard.

"I can't see, I am suitably blind," she confirmed, nodding in what was hopefully Stiles' direction.

"Great. Great, great-y, great." Stiles was drumming his fingers on the wheel as he started the car from what she could hear. Roscoe's engine chugged several times before she started properly and they shot forward.

The entire journey was a mixture of uncomfortable and scary. It wasn't that she thought that Stiles was driving her out into the middle of nowhere to kill her, but it was still strange to not be able to see where they were going. Every time they turned a corner or slowed down, Sky jumped in surprise. Also, Stiles had forgotten to tell her that they were picking up Scott and she nearly screamed when they Jeep stopped dead for a second and the door next to her opened.

"Hey, Sky... Why are you wearing a blindfold?" Scott clambered over her lap, pulling the door behind him, and reaching the middle of the bench seat before wriggling into the back.

"I don't know where we're going and I'm not allowed to," She explained morosely. "So I have to wear a blindfold."

"Why don't you know where we're going?" Scott asked confusedly.

"It's a surprise," Sky and Stiles explained in unison.

"It was meant to be a special night out," Sky grumbled without any real force behind it. "You and Allison, and Lydia, were an unexpected addition to tonight."

"Well, we're here, and the girl's have already arrived so you and Allison need to play nice. Lydia doesn't know why you two aren't talking to each other," Stiles told her.

"Yeah, yeah," she replied noncommittally, pressing herself back against the seat as Scott climbed out over her. "Can I take this off now?"

"No!" Stiles shouted, attempting to clap a hand over the blindfold, but only succeeding in hitting her in the face. "Sorry! Sorry! I'm so sorry, just- Just stay there!" Sky held her face gingerly as Stiles slipped out of the Jeep, running around to the other side and opening her door. "Okay, just hold onto me. Here, put your hands here." He positioned her arms around his neck and rested his on her waist. He picked her up as best he could and lifted her out of the car, placing her on her feet.

"Hey, Skyler. Is this blindfold some weird sex thing?" There was no way that that was anyone but Lydia. Sky heard Stiles make a gasping, choking noise next to her and withdrew his hands like he had been burned. She stumbled with at the sudden lack of contact, and someone darted to her side, catching her before she overbalanced.

"Thanks Scott," Stiles called, hurrying to her side. Scott let her go and Stiles replaced his hold, one arm wrapping around her waist and catching her hand with the other. "Alright, this way."

He walked a few inches in front of her, guiding her as best he could. She heard Lydia walking next to them, and Allison and Scott a few steps behind them, conversing in low tones. Stiles stopped her after nearly a minute of awkward stumbling and steadied her, dropping his hands away from her. Sky could hear a jingling of keys and what sounded like a padlock and chain.

"Alright, you guys go in first," Stiles said, guiding everyone around Skyler and in through whatever doors he had just opened. "Okay, now Sky, I'm gonna take off the blindfold, but you gotta promise me that you're gonna keep your eyes closed."

"I promise," she giggled, just thankful to be able to see again. "Now come on."

She felt his hands picking the knot at the back of her head apart, and the cloth fell away from her face. Sky reached up and rubbed her eyes, making sure to keep them tightly shut. Stiles slipped up behind her until they were nearly pressed together and slid his hands up and over her eyes.

"Okay, forwards," he instructed, easing her on. "There's a small step here. Up and down. You're good, you're over it." The temperature dropped by several degrees as they passed the threshold. "Alright...STOP!" Stiles yelled suddenly, grinding to a halt behind her. His hands dragged her back towards until she collided uncomfortably with him. "Ready, I'm gonna take my hands away, but you don't open your eyes yet!"

"Okay! Now come on," she whined, bouncing impatiently on the balls of her feet.

He dropped his hands away from her face and Skyler squeezed her eyes shut, nearly vibrating with the anticipation. "Alright, now...OPEN!" Sky's eyes snapped open and she gasped in surprise.

The building that they were in was huge, both length and width ways. The ceiling rose far above them, and the floor was nearly completely taken up by an ice-rink. Allison, Scott and Lydia were already behind the counter, picking out their skates. Sky covered her mouth with her hands, making tiny little squealing noises. She had only ever been ice-skating once in her life. Her mother had taken her when she was a child, maybe five or six, when they had been spending a week with her grandparents in Boston. She had told Stiles a few weeks after meeting him that she had always wanted to go ice-skating again, but there hadn't been a rink anywhere near her home in Kansas. Sky spun around to face Stiles, smiling even wider when she caught sight of his bashful grin.

"Stiles, you are amazing!" She shrieked excitedly, jumping forwards and throwing her arms around his neck.

"Yeah, well...," he trailed off, wrapping his arms around her in return.

Skyler disentangled herself from Stiles, grasping his hand instead and pulling him towards the counter. Allison and Scott had already chosen their ice-skates and were trying them on at the side of the rink, Lydia was sitting on the bleachers, shivering. Sky scrambled up and over the counter, hauling Stiles along behind her.

"Women's are there," he told her, pointing at a few shelves of boots. "I'm gonna go find a pair for me. Over there." He gestured wildly to the opposite set of shelves, nearly smacking her. But it didn't even bother Sky at this point, she was way too happy to care.

"Okay. Okay, okay, okay," she singsonged, wiggling from side to side. It felt like she was a child again, hopped up on sugar and excitement.

He pulled her in for a quick parting hug, moving in to kiss her on the forehead but starting to feel nervous halfway to making contact, so instead just bumped his nose against the hairline. She laughed quietly, scrunching up her nose and pushing him away from her. They went their separate ways, Stiles finding his skates within a few seconds, Sky taking considerably longer. She hadn't worn thick socks, so it was harder than expected to find a pair of boots that fit her. After almost five minutes, she had found a white pair of boots with glittery black straps. They made her feel like a princess. She hopped back over the counter, looking around for Stiles.

When she caught sight of him, he was sitting on the bleachers with Lydia, holding out a blue and orange striped hoodie. The redhead was peering down at it with disdain. Once he had retracted the jumper, he took a deep breath and started talking feverishly. Sky's childish jealousy got the better of her, and she stayed in her spot, watching them. Stiles had begun to gesticulate wildly, motioning between himself and Lydia, and the girl in question was watching with a raised eyebrow. Sky was past the point of wondering what they were talking about, and was just feeling nervous now, sick to her stomach. Stiles paused, more likely just to catch his breath rather than anything else, and Lydia's usually cold and impassive face broke into a tiny, soft smile. Lydia nodded and replied to whatever Stiles had said, before they both glanced over towards Sky.

She jumped in surprise and hurried back to the counter, swinging herself up and pretending that she hadn't been keeping tabs on them like some kind of Edward Cullen/Christian Grey stalker type. Sky slid her boots off and dropped them on to the ground in front of her. It was a small bit of a struggle to get the boots on and strapped up over her tights. By the time she had finished, Lydia was already out on the ice, Allison was attempting, unsuccessfully, to teach Scott how to ice-skate while remaining upright, and Stiles was making his way over to her. He had always been lanky and awkward, but he looked even more graceless than usual, stomping along in his bladed boots.

"You okay?" He asked, coming to a halt in front of her and nearly over balancing.

"Mmmm," Skyler hummed noncommittally in response, swinging her legs and almost impaling Stiles' shins on her blade tips.

"Do you want to skating now?" Stiles seemed confused at sudden change in attitude and it gave Sky a small pang of guilt. She looked down, glancing off to the side and they were both silent for a few seconds. "Did I... Did I do something?"

"No," Sky insisted sharply, snapping her head up to him. "It's just that... I was wondering, what were you and Lydia talking about?"

"Oh, that!" Stiles laughed sweetly, and if she wasn't so worried then she would've joined in. "That was nothing. Not nothing. It was a thing, but it wasn't an important thing. It was a think we could talk about later. It was about you."

"Me?"

"You."

"Oh, well that's nice," Sky told him, instantly feeling a little lighter. It might be totally selfish, but she was glad that when her best friend and the guy she liked spoke, the conversation was about her. "So, ice-skating?"

"Let's go." Stiles reached out and placed his hands on her waist, picking her up and lifting her off the counter. He placed her on her feet, keeping her steady when she wobbled.

She hadn't done this for about ten years, and it was an odd feeling, trying to balance on the skates. Stiles took her hand and helped her towards the ice-rink, shuffling onto the ice and helping her on after him. Her legs went out from under her and she would've hit the ice flat on her back if Stiles hadn't darted forward and held her up. It turned out that, however klutzy he may be, Stiles Stilinski was seriously talented at ice-skating.

Lydia was the best, of course. She had natural grace and years of practice under her belt, she could spin and jump and twist. Allison was pretty average, she could stay on her feet and skate around in a circle. Scott was abysmal. Simply abysmal. Skyler could at least stay on her feet. Stiles held her hand the entire time, and if she fell, he would fall with her and they would sit on the ice laughing at each other. After the first twenty minutes, she had pretty much grasped the basics enough to venture away from the side of the rink, letting Stiles and Lydia tow her around, or occasionally making it from one side of the rink to the other by herself.

If it had been just Stiles and Skyler, then it would have been truly magical. The three people accompanying them did, in some ways, dampen the atmosphere. However, due to the incident at the Formal, Christmas and New Year had been mainly passed over, but this felt like her own personal Winter Wonderland. She was wrapped up, cosy and warm, with some of her favourite people in the world, doing something she had been longing to do for ten years. And, long after Scott had admitted defeat and left the rink to sit with Allison and Lydia had skated off to give them some alone time, Stiles had taken Skyler to sit on the bleachers to produce the second part of his surprise. In proper holiday season tradition, Stiles had brought along hot chocolate and gingerbread. The hot chocolate had been in a Thermos since before he had picked her up, so it was lukewarm when they started to drink it, and Stiles had said that he couldn't find genuinely fresh baked gingerbread men in Beacon Hills, he had settled for a half crushed packet of Ginger Nuts. It was sweet and silly and funny and ridiculous and perfect and completely Stiles. All that was missing was snow.

Sky and Stiles had already changed back into their regular shoes, and were sitting cross legged on the reception desk, facing each other. They hadn't spoken in a while, but that was fine. It was nearly back to normal, comfortable silences were a big part of their relationship. They were finished the hot chocolate and biscuits and were just playing slapsies, the only sounds were them hitting each other and their occasional bursts of laughter. Allison and Scott were tucked away in a photo booth, being adorable, and Sky and Stiles were enjoying themselves until Lydia started to scream.

It was scarily piercing, and it drew everyone's head in the direction of the rink. Lydia was on her knees, scratching at the ice and still screeching at the top of her voice. Sky threw herself off the counter, Stiles half a second behind her. She reached the ice first, stumbling towards Lydia. Staying upright in regular shoes was a challenge and by the time she got to her friend, Sky was on her hands and knees. She wrapped her arms tightly around Lydia, tucking the other girl's head under her chin. Stiles slid to a halt on his knees next to them.

"He was in there," Lydia whimpered against Skyler's neck. "I saw him. He was in there."

"Who?" Skyler asked her softly. She ran her hand through Lydia's hair, trying to soothe her friend. "Who did you see?"

"Him," Lydia repeated stubbornly. "He was under the ice."

"Lydia," Allison said in the tone of voice you would use when speaking to an animal that was preparing to bolt. "There's no one there."

Lydia retracted her head, peering down at the ice. Allison and Scott stood above them, gazing down, and Sky and Stiles followed suit. There was a clear patch of ice where Lydia had scratched away all the little white shavings, and they could see straight down. There was nothing there. Lydia stared at it in shock and confusion for a few seconds, furrowing her brows and letting her mouth drop open.

"But, I saw him..." She whispered, pulling herself clear of Sky's arms and standing up shakily.

"Lydia. Who?" Skyler asked again, much more firmly, but Lydia was already making her way off the ice.

"Allison, I want to go home," she called quietly over her shoulder. The other four teens watched her until she was off the ice, disappearing to find her shoes.

"Guys, what the fuck just happened?" Sky was the first to speak, pushing herself upright and holding onto Scott's arm to stop herself from falling.

"I don't know," Stiles muttered, still peering after Lydia. He stood up and took Sky's arm, pulling her away from Scott and into his side.

"Is this something to do with Peter biting her?" Allison looked around at them, chewing on her lower lip.

"You think she saw Peter?" Scott hissed. He glanced over his shoulder worriedly, like he thought that the dead ex-Alpha might pop out from behind a vending machine.

"From what I can tell, Lydia never got a good look at Peter," Sky told them. "She never mentioned seeing a man Or anyone really . She was pretty screwed up after the Formal."

"So it's like supernatural PTSD?" Stiles interjected.

"I guess," Sky replied, leaning into Stiles.

"Allison!" Lydia shrieked shrilly from the entrance.

"We'd better go," Allison said apologetically, turning and stumbling across the ice to get to Lydia.

"I'm gonna go with her, make sure that they're both alright." Scott bid them goodnight and jogged awkwardly after Lydia and Allison.

"Well, that was certainly interesting," Sky piped up once the door had swung shut behind the other three.

"Will we go now, or do you want to... Do you wanna stay for a while? We don't have to go. We could go for a drive, or for food. Do you want food?" Stiles squeezed his eyes shut, looking like he wanted to curl up in a ball and disappear forever.

"I wanna go to yours, if that's still okay," she murmured softly.

"That's great. That's- yeah. Great, yeah," Stiles nodded at her, taking her hand and tugging her across the ice.

She stood outside and waited for him as he locked the front doors, then walked to the Jeep in silence. They were both mulling over what had happened with Lydia. Sky sat in her usual position, he legs tucked up underneath her on the seat. Stiles' fingers tapped rapidly on the wheel as he drove, shooting small glances her way every few seconds. Neither of them particularly felt like having a deep or meaningful discussion right now, but they had agreed that it would be tonight, and sooner rather than later seemed pragmatic. They stopped in front of Stiles' house and he turned off the car, letting the engine die down. Sky laughed nervously, running the heels of her hands up and down her thighs.

"Alrighty, let's... Let's go then."

She opened her door and slid out, wrapping her arms around her to keep herself warm. Sky still shivered despite the thick sweater she was wearing, it was early January and the weather was bitter. Stiles fell out of his door and scrambled around the bonnet of the Jeep to slide an arm around her shoulders, keeping her as warm as possible. They made their way up to the house and Sky hovered on the porch as Stiles fumbled with his keys, trying to unlock the door.

"Can I take your coat?" Stiles asked, the second they were inside the door. Sky took a small breath, and gestured at her torso. "Right. You're not wearing a coat." His eyes roved her body for a second, trying to find some item of clothing that he could take. "Can I take your shoes?"

"Sure," she said. Sky bent down to remove her shoes, and when she wasfinished, she handed them to Stiles, who looked around for a moment before dropping the boots at the foot of the coatrack, right next to where Skyler was standing.

This was immediately followed by several seconds of long and uncomfortable silence as they both waited for the other to start talking. In the end, Stiles invited her to his room, and she hurried up the stairs after him. Stiles' bedroom was in a wonderfully familiar state of disarray. There were clothes on the floor, desk, chair, and just about every other surface, flat or otherwise. There were enough books on the floor to fill a small library, all bookmarked, with pages turned down at the corner or marked with multicoloured Post-Its that she had bought him a few weeks ago. Since Scott had told them that his boss knew more than he was letting on about the supernatural world, Stiles had been working at double speed to try and figure out where Deaton fitted in to the world of werewolves. Sky made her way through the books and clothes and empty plates and glasses to the bed. She sat down primly on the edge, tucking her skirt underneath her legs.

"So," Stiles panted, darting around the room to try and clear up the mess that he had created in the past few days. He kicked what looked like a pair of underwear that read 'Business in the Front, Party in the Back' under his bed and straightened up, ahnds on his hips. "Talk time. Time to talk. Time. To. Talk."

"Yeah, I guess it is," she agreed lightly, trying not to betray the shake in her voice. "Do you want to start or will I?"

"Uh. You. Or me. Either one of us. We could both go at the same time," he suggested, shrugging his shoulders.

"That's a terrible idea," she pointed out. "I'm fairly sure that this is not a situation in which we will have the exact same one line answer." She took a deep breath and pursed her lips. "I'll start then. Just let me finish, and then if you want to say anything, please do. I just need to get through it first because if you interrupt me, I'm not gonna get through this." Sky tucked loose pieces of hair behind her ears, and gestured at the bed. "Could you at least seat down please? You're making me super nervous just hovering there."

He wandered over to the bed, kicking off his trainers and throwing himself down onto the bed, sitting with one leg hanging off the bed and the other splayed out awkwardly in a misguided attempt to look casual. Sky turned to face him and crossed her legs, leaning her elbows on her knees.

"Right, so." This felt odd, she had never had this conversation with Jace, it had just been 'Oh, we're best friends', and then 'Oh, we're dating' a few weeks later. It had never felt this serious. "I like you. A like you quite a bit. And I really like... I really like kissing you. I thought about it a lot, even before the Formal, and I had been thinking of it for a while." This was, without a doubt, the most uncomfortable conversation that Sky had ever had to have, and she looked down, fiddling with the hem of her skirt as she blushed. "I liked you, kinda since I met you. I thought you were really cute, and sweet and I felt like I could be myself when I was around you. I was all happy and confident and me, but then you turned up to take me to the party and we had so much fun and it was like everything was different then. And when I found out that you had been in love with Lydia, holy shit, that hurt like hell."

"I'm really-" Stiles started, but Sky shushed him without any real force.

"No interrupting," she reminded him. "Anyway, not talking to you when I found out about Scott was one of the hardest things I had ever done. And then there was the night we were trapped in the school, in that locker together, I wanted to kiss you so bad." She paused for a second to wince at the memory. "And in the chemistry classroom, and pretty much everytime that I was around you. And when you called a few nights later and asked me if Lydia wanted to go with you to the Formal, I can't remember the last time I felt like that. It was awful. And then I invited Zach, because I was mad at you and it was a stupid, awful thing to do. I knew how he felt about me, and I didn't care that I was gonna end up hurting him. You got mad because I was going with him, and I got mad because you were going with Lydia, and it was a massive clusterfuck for everyone." Sky was shaking now, breathing heavily as she realised exactly how much they had been through in the past few months.

"At the Formal, when you kissed me," she continued quietly. "It was everything I could've wanted, it was perfect. You were perfect, and then Peter fucked everything up, and Lydia and I ended up in hospital. Melissa told me, y'know, about the blood transfusion. You saved my life." She looked up at him for a second and smiled at the bashful look on his face. "And we kept kissing but nothing else, and I want it to stop. I want to do something else. I want us to be something. So, to wrap it up; I really, really like you, romantically. I have since I met you, I get stupidly jealous when you spend time with Lydia, and I don't want to just be really good friends that keep making out, I want to be something with you."

"I don't like Lydia, I like you," Stiles muttered.

"Is that all?" Skyler asked, raising her head to meet his eyes.

"I've liked you for a while. I think it was since you did that Batman impression in English class," he told her. Like Sky, the only way he could get through this was to look everywhere but at her. "A few days after I found out about Scott. And it was confusing, because it had always been Lydia, and suddenly you were there and you loved comic books and awesome music, and you eat like no one I have ever seen before and it's amazing. You had to be best friends with Lydia, just to make it worse." Sky ducked her head in apparent shame of becoming close with Lydia. "And, Jesus Sky, that night in the school, and when you stayed over, I just... It was so hard. OH GOD! Not like that! Not that! Kinda like that, actually! But never mind, anyway. Right. Okay." He took a second to compose himself. "When Scott kissed you, I wanted to kill him. And I couldn't even explain to you why I asked Lydia to the Formal instead of you. And Zach, God Zach. Him. He's like slightly less asshole Jackson.

"Hey," Sky warned. "He's still my friend."

"Right, yeah. Sorry. Yes," Stiles fell over his words, running his hands over his head. "Seeing you at the Formal with him was so incredibly painful, and you looked so incredibly happy and it sucked. Then we kissed, and kissing you was seriously, like, the best thing ever. Holy God, that was amazing. Then Peter." He shook his head and scrunched up his nose. "I was so scared when you were in the hospital, I couldn't make myself leave. It was terrifying. Sky, you once told me that I was someone, I was your someone. So yeah, I want to be something to you."

"Why me? Sky asked before she could stop herself.

"Why you what?" Stiles replied, looking confused.

"Why me over Lydia? No, don't do that face," Sky hated to ask the queation. Hated to be the whiny girl that just couldn't let the ex-girlfriend go, but she needed reassurance, she needed to know. "You felt the same about Zach. Just please, give me this."

"Because she's not you," he answered simply after a few seconds of contemplating a spiderweb in the corner of his room. "She's not a total hog when it comes to food or blankets. She doesn't know the name of Tony Stark's robot butler. She's not tall and beautiful and blond and the smartest, most compassionate person I have ever met. Because I never really knew her, not like I knew you. She's not you Skyler."

"But-"

"No, Sky. No," Stiles cut across her, unnaturally firm. "I don't want her. Not like that. And you don't see me getting jealous when you're with Zach or when Derek breaks into your bedroom at night to creep on you." She raised an eyebrow in his direction and he shrugged halfheartedly. "Well not much anyway."

"There's no reason for you to be jealous, Stiles," Skyler told him gently. "I don't want them. They're not you."

Stiles smiled softly, and they met each other's eyes properly for the first time since Sky had started speaking. He stretched out a hand and cupped her cheek, both of them content to stay in that position for a minute, basking in the happy glow that the conversation had just given them. It would take a while for Sky to completely relax around Stiles and Lydia, but his words had definitely helped. She scooted closer to him, moving up the bed until she was situated comfortably between his legs. Stiles removed his hand from her cheek and slid it down to rest on her hip, letting his other hand mirror the movement on her right side. Sky, in turn, placed her arms around his neck, resting them loosely on the curve of his shoulders.

"So, are we dating now?" Stiles asked nervously. It was almost as if he thought that she would suddenly turn around and retract everything that she had just said, tell him that it was a joke.

"Yeah," Sky nodded softly after a few moments. "Yeah. I guess that makes you my boyfriend."

"And that makes you my girlfriend," Stiles confirmed.

"I like the sound of that," Sky murmured.

She drew her hands up his back, interlocking her fingers at the nape of his neck and straightening her posture so that they were eye to eye. Stiles' hands tightened on her hips, fingertips digging into the soft skin. Sky leaned forward, gently nuzzling her nose against Stiles', and grinning at the quiet noise of appreciation that he made. She could feel his hot breath on her mouth and was just about to close the gap between them when her phone began to buzz in her pocket. Stiles jumped back like he had been electrocuted, banging his head on the wall behind his bed.

"Sorry." Sky shot him an apologetic grin, pushing herself up off the bed and answering the phone. "Hey Becca," she greeted as Stiles muttered something that sounded very much like 'Do you ever realise how much this happens to us'.

"Hey, kiddo," Rebecca replied, an oddly strained tone in her voice. "Where are you?"

"I'm at Stiles' house," Skyler told her, furrowing her brows in confusion. "I thought I told you that I was coing over here tonight."

"Yeah, you did. I just... Well, it's quite late, isn't it?" It was spoken as a rhetorical question, but it was quite obvious that Rebecca was hinting at something.

"It's just gone eleven," Sky shot back, refusing to take the bait. She turned to face face Stiles, leaning her back against the door. Stiles was now sitting upright on the edge of the bed, watching her with flushed cheeks.

"I was wondering when you were planning on coming home," Rebecca admitted.

"Why?"

"Your dad's back." Rebecca never referred to Nick as Nick when she was speaking to Skyler, it was always 'your dad'. "While you were gone I made some brownies, the ones that you like. I thought that we could all have some when you got back, and you guys can have a little chat."

Sky felt a guilty pang in her stomach at Rebecca's hopeful tone. There was no way that she was going to deal with Nick tonight, she simply did not have the energy to hear why her father had left Beacon Hills after she had been attacked and placed in hospital. When she got home tonight, Sky would probably either climb in her bedroom window or use the front door and just ignore Nick.

"Maybe not tonight, Becca," Sky said. "I'm really pretty tired, and I just don't feel like it."

"He's waiting up to speak with you. He really wants to." Rebecca was nearly pleading.

"Becca, please," Sky replied quietly, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I don't want to do this tonight. I don't want to talk to Nick because he's suddenly decided that it suits him."

She also didn't want to argue with Rebecca but if the woman kept insisting on them having some stupid family meeting business, then fight they would. Sky's head was starting to pound and she could feel a headache forming at her temples. What had been such a lovely evening was staring to turn sour. Everything up until this moment had been perfect.

"Sky," Stiles piped up from his place on the bed. Skyler had almost forgotten that he was in the room with her. "If- Y'know, if you don't wanna deal with your dad tonight, you could always just... Just stay here."

"Give me a second, Rebecca," she murmured, pulling the phone away from her ear and pressing it to her chest. "Are you serious?"

"Well, I mean, you did it before," he shrugged with one shoulder.

"Would it still be okay now that we're...dating?" The word still felt strange on her tongue, and she was sure that it would for quite a while.

"We don't have to do anything tonight. Like, we don't have to do it now, or ever. Never, if you don't want to. I mean, I want to, but you really shouldn't feel any pressure-"

"I don't feel any pressure," Sky cut him off with a smile. She tried to duck her head and hide her red face from Stiles. Blood seemed to rush to her face from every point of her body at the mere thought of having sex with Stiles. It was an embarrassing affliction that she was working to overcome.

Sky raised the phone to her ear again and heard Rebecca speaking softly to who she assumed was Nick on the other end of the line. "Becca, look, it's getting pretty late to be driving around Beacon Hills, so Stiles said that I could stay here." There was a pause and a disappointed sigh from Rebecca's end. Sky turned away from Stiles, who had stood up and started to move to the chest of drawers by the foot of his bed. "Becca?"

"I'm not going to stop you," Rebecca told her defeatedly. "But you can't avoid talking to him forever."

"Not forever, just tonight," she clarified. "I'll be over in the morning for my school things, I'll see you then. Goodnight, Becca."

"Night, kiddo." Rebecca ended the call without even her usual jokey warning for them to 'be safe'.

When Sky turned to face him again, dropping her phone back into her pocket, Stiles was holding a frayed Mets t-shirt and a pair of red plaid pants. Skyler pattered forwards, sinking her feet into the soft carpet. She paused when she was a foot or two away from him and reached out to take the clothes from him, hugging them to her chest.

"I'm gonna go wait outside," he told her, making guns with his fingers and pointing at the door of his room. "You can..." He waved his hand wildly at her body, indicating in his own odd way that she should get changed.

Once he had left the room and closed the door behind him, Sky dropped the clothes on the bed and started to strip. She shed her tights first, followed by her skirt, sweater, and shirt. It was only when she was standing there in her bra and panties that she realised that she was, essentially, naked in Stiles Stilinski's bedroom. The thought set off a giggle fit which took nearly a minute to control, and taking off her bra felt strangely scandalous, even if Stiles wasn't in the room with her at the time. The t-shirt was much too long, reaching her knees, and she could've worn it without pants if she had wanted, but she slid them on anyway, for the sake of decency. Stiles' clothes gave her a warm, comforting feeling and she used her moments alone hug herself and grin stupidly. She was Stiles' girlfriend now. She was his girlfriend and she was wearing his clothes and she was going to be sleeping in his bed.

"You can come in," Skyler called once she was finished freaking out.

Stiles pushed the door open and stopped in his tracks. Sky was standing in the middle of the room, dressed in an old pair of his pyjamas. He had outgrown them a year or two ago, but they were practically hanging off of Skyler's frame. The shirt showed most of her shoulders and collarbone, the hem fell almost to her knees, and the sleeves of the shirt passed her elbows. He could see the outline of a large knot under the shirt, just where the drawstrings of the pants were. Her feet were completely covered by the pants, which had pooled on the floor around her. Sky had just let her hair down for the night and it was falling around her shoulders in waves. To Stiles, she had never looked more beautiful.

"Is there any particular side that you sleep on?" Sky asked, breaking him out of his slightly creepy reverie. "Of the bed."

"The middle, usually," he replied, realising how strange it was going to be having a girlfriend that might become a regular guest in his bed. "We can sort it out in a minute."

Sky smiled at him and pulled back the bed clothes. He thanked his lucky stars that he had changed them recently, and that they were relatively clean. Once she was settled by the wall, facing away from him, Stiles tugged off his clothes as fast as he could, feeling slightly nervous that he was almost naked in the same room as Skyler. When he was done, he turned the light off, kicked his clothes under the bed and lowered himself down onto the edge of the mattress. He sat in place for a few seconds before Sky twisted her head around and glanced at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you planning on sleeping like that?" She asked him with a grin.

"Well, no, I just... I wanna make sure that you're comfortable," he muttered.

She pursed her lips for a second, rolling over so that she was facing him. "Come here," she beckoned, pushing herself up onto one elbow.

Stiles wriggled under the blanket, scooting towards her. She rolled her eyes and crooked a finger at him, drawing him closer. Stiles, unsure of what she was doing, moved inch by inch until she reached the middle of the bed.

"Okay, now stay there," Sky instructed.

He lay on his back, watching her nervously. Skyler shifted towards him, pausing when she reached him. She grabbed his right arm and placed it on the pillow. Sky dropped her head onto Stiles' chest and felt him jump in surprise under her. She drew her arm up and draped it across his waist. Stiles' arm came up to wrap around her shoulders.

"You smell nice," she murmured against his shirt and she felt his chest rumble with laughter.

Stiles looked down at her head tucked against him and he reached down, tilting her chin up with his free hand. He ducked his head and pressed a quick kiss to her lips, before drawing back and grinning wildly at her. Sky longed to pull him back down to her and kiss him until neither of them could breathe, but she was tired, and they would have plenty more chances.

"Things are gonna get even weirder now, aren't they?" Stiles asked from above her.

"Yup. But that can wait 'til morning."

And for the first time, and what would definitely not be the last if either of them had their way, Skyler fell asleep in Stiles' arms.


	6. Boyd

_**AN: Hey guys, I know it's been longer than usual but I had to take a small break to get through my exams. Thankfully they're over now so I should be getting back to the story. Apologies for any errors in this, I wrote it over the course of the past two days due to being on bed rest with a busted knee. Hope you guys enjoy it, let me know what you think with a Follow, Favourite or Review, I love hearing from you guys (it gives me great happiness), and I hope you're all having a wonderful summer. PS. In response to one or two people asking about it in the last chapter, I refer to Stiles and Skyler as Styler but if you guys have your own name feel free to use it. Xx**_

There was an empty table in the cafeteria. It did not strike Skyler as weird. Everyone group had their own table, and it never changed, Sky could probably draw a map at this point. It was like Mean Girls. It was possible that the group who sat there usually was busy or otherwise engaged, no big deal. It did, however, strike Stiles as very odd indeed.

Stiles had been unusually normal when they had woken up that morning. Sky had blinked hard against the brightness as the Sheriff entered his son's bedroom and flicked on the light switch. She made a small moaning sound and nuzzling her head even deeper into Stiles' chest, refusing to succumb to the world of the conscious. Stiles' arm tightened on her shoulder and he grunted unintelligibly at her. The Sheriff didn't make any comment at the sight of the two teenagers cuddled up in bed together. He just sighed and told them that it was time to get up for school before leaving the room, pulling the door out behind him.

"Good morning," she muttered against his shirt.

"Ungh."

"You're wonderfully communicative in the morning," Sky continued sarcastically, letting out a breathy laugh. She caught sight of the clock on his bedside table, groaning at the time. She rolled off him and onto her back, keeping her eyes fixed on his face and stretching her arms above her head.

"What time is it?" Stiles grumbled after several moments.

"Time to get up," she replied lightly.

He groaned again in response, kicking the covers off them. They lay side by side for a few seconds, both basking in the fact that they had just woken up, wrapped in each other's arms. When she had soaked up enough of Stiles' presence, she sat up and wriggled her way off the bed, swinging herself over his legs as she went. Stiles followed suit a few seconds later, trailing down the stairs after her. They shared nearly an entire box of Lucky Charms for breakfast, Stiles' father watching them shrewdly, but silently, from the kitchen doorway. When they were finished, Sky did what she needed to do in the bathroom as Stile got changed, then they swapped.

Stiles drove her to her house and dropped her off, promising that he'd see her at school. She let herself in as quietly as possible, hesitating on the threshold to make sure that Nick and Rebecca weren't up yet. Skyler jogged quietly up to her room, removing her clothes and dumping them on her bed. She found a faded bubblegum pink and blue long-sleeved striped shirt, dark denim skinny jeans and red converse. She let her hair fall freely around her shoulders, thanking God for dry shampoo, grabbed her messenger bag and was back out the door in under five minutes. She drove herself to school and met Stiles and Scott who were hovering by the front door. Sky hopped up the steps to meet them, Stiles immediately grasping her hand and placing a very hasty kiss on her forehead. Scott tried to avoid looking straight at them, mostly focusing on a bird flying past above their heads. Overall, it had been very pleasant, and in no way as uncomfortable as Sky had expected it to be.

Now, he was bounding up to the lunch table where she was sitting with Scott. Lydia had taken a 'Me Day' for herself, which greatly worried Sky, so Allison and Scott were her only choices for lunch buddies. That was usually because Stiles spent much too long at his locker, and never arrived in the cafeteria until nearly five minutes into lunch. From what Scott had told her, it was because of his jumpiness and ADD, which resulted in him consistently dropping his books and getting distracted. Knowing Stiles like she did, it wasn't hard for Sky to believe that.

"Guys," Stiles hissed in lieu of a greeting. "Do you see that?"

"It's a table," Sky pointed out.

"It's an empty table," Scott reiterated.

"Yeah, but whose empty table?" Stiles asked, rolling his eyes like they were both particularly dim.

"Boyd." Scott was the first to understand. Sky was still confused, looking between the two boys in confusion for a few seconds until her bran finally clicked into place.

"You don't think Derek would...?" She let her question trail off into the air, biting down hard on her lip.

None of them needed a verbal confirmation. Of course Derek would. They were up and out of their seats within a second, leaving their uneaten lunches behind them. Skyler scurried out of the cafeteria after Stiles, Scott following on her heels. They fell into line when they reached an emptying corridor.

"We gotta find Boyd," Sky started the moment that they were out of earshot of most of the people in the hall.

"I'm going to go to the ice rink, see if he's there," Scott told them firmly. "Stiles, you go to his house, and if he's not at home, call me, got it?" Derek may have been the Alpha, but Scott was definitely in charge. Stiles slowed to a halt, looking conflicted.

"Maybe we should let him. Boyd, y'know man," Stiles suggested. "You said Derek's giving them a choice, right?" Skyler and Scott stared at him in disbelief.

"We can't," Scott insisted.

"Are you serious!?" She demanded of Stiles, reaching out to clutch his hand, like the pressure would snap him back to reality.

"You gotta admit, Erica looks pretty good." Stiles was exhibiting his usual habit of speaking before thinking, but this time it was not amusing, Skyler did not like it one bit. It was made worse by the fact that he wasn't aware of Erica's crush on him. "You know, the word 'sensational' comes to mind."

"Excuse me," Sky murmured, voice cold and quiet.

"Not like that! I mean, she does look amazing, but not as amazing as you, obviously. No one looks as amazing as you," Stiles rambled, eyes bugging out of his head. "You look amazing all the time."

"Mmm," she replied with pursed lips and a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, well," Scott continued awkwardly. "How good d'you think she's gonna look with a wolfsbane bullet in her head?"

"All right, all I'm saying is maybe this one isn't totally your responsibility," Stiles offered up, holding up his hands in surrender.

"They all are. And you know this thing's gonna get out of control," Scott said, staring at them with his big, brown doe eyes. "That makes me responsible."

"That makes Derek responsible," Sky corrected sharply.

"All right, we're with you," Stiles told him in a placating tone, seeing how worked up his friend was getting over the Hale pack situation. "And also I gotta say, this new found heroism is making me very attracted to you." Stiles' statement was accompanied with a little smirk.

"Shut up," Scott told him, serious face breaking into a grin. Sky smiled, watching the two of them together. It was wonderful to see them finding any small moment of peace and happiness in the shit storm that was their lives.

"No, seriously. Do you wanna just try making out for a sec?" Stiles called out after Scott as his friend walked away. "Just to see how it feels."

"I'm not sure whether I prefer it when you're calling Erica sensational, or being gay with Scott," Sky mused once they were alone.

"Being gay with Scott made you smile at least," he told her with a bashful smile. Stiles watched her face for a second for any signs of humour before continuing in a pleading tone. "Please don't be mad at me."

"I'm not mad, don't be silly," she reassured him, rubbing her free hand up and down his arm. "Erica does look hot, I just don't like to hear it from you."

"I promise to never ever call another girl hot," Stiles pledged sweetly. "All other girls will be hideous compared to you."

"That's oddly adorable," Skyler grinned, scrunching up her nose. "Now, be safe, and I will see you later." She squeezed his hand and turned away from him.

"Wait, where are you going?" He said, catching hold of her arm. "Cafeteria's the other way."

"Well it's a good thing that I'm not going to the cafeteria then, isn't it?" She said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Where are you going then?" Stiles asked incredulously.

"Derek's house."

"Wh-What? What? What? Why?!" Stiles let go of her arm so that he could flail more wildly than usual. "No, you are not!"

"Yes, I am," she corrected him. "You guys are trying to stop Boyd, maybe we should be trying to stop Derek, who is kinda the root of the problem here."

"And why must it be you that goes to see him?" Stiles interrupted, glaring at her without any anger.

"Let's be real here, Stiles," Skyler raised an eyebrow and jabbed herself in the chest. "If he's going to listen to anyone, it's gonna be me. He kinda likes me the best out of the three of us, if you hadn't noticed."

"I had, but it doesn't mean that I have to like it," he grumbled, crossing his arms and trying to look intimidating. "I don't want you going out into the Preserve on your own. Especially with that lizardy thing running loose."

"Stiles, I will be fine," Sky said reassuringly, gripping his shoulders and looking him in the eyes. "Derek won't let me get hurt, I know that he won't."

"I'm not comfortable with this," he reiterated strongly. "And you can't just walk out of school like that. You have classes, you have...stuff."

"I'm going and there's nothing that you can do about it," Skyler snapped matter-of-factly. She adored Stiles and everything, but there was no way in hell she was going to start letting him tell her what to do. "And Rebecca's not gonna make a fuss, okay? I've never skipped before, and she'll probably just chalk it up to Nick turning up out of the blue again."

"Are you sure about this?" He murmured quietly, drawing her close to him and ducking his mouth down to her ear. His eyes were still conflicted, ans Sky knew that he just wanted to protect her, but if she thought that this was what was best, he wouldn't argue.

"Very. I need to talk to him. See if I can beat some sense into him," she said with a smile. "Y'know."

"Call me the second you get there, call me when Derek gets there, call me if you see Isaac, call me if you see Erica, call me when you're leaving, and call me when you get home," Stiles instructed, drawing away from her and looking into her eyes. "Okay?"

"Sir, yes, sir," she joked, giving him a little mock salute. "Anything else?"

"Call me if you see the lizardy thing," he added after a few thoughtful seconds. "But run away first. Run away and be safe and then call me." He stared down at her and slid one hand around to cup the back of her neck, placing the palm of his other hand flat against her cheek. "Promise me that you'll be careful. Promise, okay?"

Instead of replying, Sky rose up on her tiptoes, taking his face in her hands and pressing her lips against his. He made a soft humming noise in response and let go of her face, trailing his hand down to rest in its usual resting place, on the base of her spine. She giggled at the odd idea of making out with Stiles in the school corridor and felt him grin against her mouth. He shifted his head to the side, and, after a moment of deliberation he bit down gently on her bottom lip. Skyler jumped in shock, but kept herself pressed against him, grasping even more tightly at him, moving her hands to his shirt. They continued on in the same vein for another minute or two until Coach Finstock walked past, muttering about how awful teenagers were, and how Stiles was the worst of all.

"Okay. Okay," she breathed out, giggling and drawing back from him. "I should go find Derek."

"Okay," he replied, ducking down to press a quick kiss to her lips.

"Alright, then." Skyler covered his mouth with her palm to stop him from speaking or kissing her again. "I need to go."

"Call-"

"Call you, I got it," Sky nodded, backing away from him.

She turned on her heel, jogging down the corridor. She needed to get out of the school before lunch ended. Plenty of people left school grounds for lunch, but it would seem weird if she left during class. The parking lot was thankfully full, and Sky was able to slip into her car a few seconds before the bell rang. One of the teachers that Sky didn't recognise was standing at the top of the steps into the school, ushering latecomers inside. She slumped down in her seat for a few minutes until the lot was clear, before staring her car and pulling out of the school, hoping to God that no one saw her go.

The roads were fairly empty, and Sky made good time on her way to the Preserve. She even stopped on her way to get a large tea in the gas station at the edge of town. This time, she had the foresight to park at the entrance to the Preserve and walk from there, rather than try to drive up to the Hale house. She would be damned if she managed to get her car stuck between two trees again. Stiles still wouldn't drop that incident, and kept wondering aloud how stupid someone would have to to get a car stuck in the woods.

The parking lot at the Preserve was empty. Not many people seemed to be going for long walks in the woods in the middle of the afternoon. Sky put the car into park and climbed out, wrapping her arms around herself to try and keep herself warm. The wind was biting this high up, where she could overlook the town. The walk was long enough that it was boring on your own, so Sky popped in her headphones and threw her bag over her shoulder. Locking the car, she climbed over the barrier that prevented cars from entering the Preserve and started to make her way towards Derek's house.

She wasn't nervous, she had been in these woods plenty of times, although the last time she was at the Hale house, she had been stabbed. The lack of nerves was probably due to the fact that she had not actually encountered this new lizard creature in the flesh yet. In fact, more than anything, it was rather pleasant to have the woods to herself. She could bask in her beautiful surroundings, all the while running over and over what she would say to Derek when she saw him. It was definitely going to start with 'Stop being an asshole', but she hadn't managed to get further than that.

It took her half an hour to reach the house. Once Sky had left the pathway to walk the last quarter mile to Derek's, it had become increasingly difficult to traverse the woods and she had managed to fall several times. She was seriously irritated when she reached the clearing where Derek's house stood and stopped to swear at a leaf covered log for an entire minute because it had tripped her. She peered suspiciously around the clearing before stepping into the open space. She wasn't nervous, but she also wasn't stupid and she knew to be cautious.

"Derek," she called tentatively, pausing her music. It felt wrong to raise her voice, but if Derek was within a mile or two, he probably would've heard her.

Skyler waited a minute for a reply, but it never came. Derek either wasn't here, or was ignoring her. Both of those explanations were viable. Sky made her way slowly to the front steps of the crumbling building, removing her headphones completely. She had felt fine in the woods, they were familiar and almost comforting, this house, however, made Sky feel like running very very fast in the opposite direction. She stepped over the darkened patches on the porch, which she was sure were blood. There was a horrible chance that it could've been hers.

"Derek," she repeated, placing her flat palm on the door and pushing it open. "I'm coming in."

The interior of the house looked even dustier than the last time she had been inside, apart from a large area in the center of the living room. Kate's blood was still spattered across the windows and walls. Sky took her time exploring the downstairs. She had never really had a chance to look around the house. From what she could tell, it had been beautiful before it had been gutted by fire. Skyler could almost picture a young, carefree Derek playing catch in front of the family house with his sisters and his cool, fun uncle Peter as his parents watched on. It was an odd image, Peter as anything but a homicidal psychopath, and Derek as anything but a brooding dickhead.

By the time she was finished on the lower level, Sky was sure that Derek wasn't home. If he had been, he definitely would've jumped out at her from the shadows by now, as he seemed so fond of doing. She sent him a quick text to let him know where she was and that she wanted to talk to him before climbing up the rickety stairs. The wood felt like it was going to give way beneath her every second. She turned left on the landing, trailing her hand along the wall as she went, collecting dust and ash on her fingertips. The first three doors she came to stood open. There was nothing interesting in them, it was just beds and wardrobes and desks. They looked like anything personal had been long since removed. She passed on without really taking in the intricacies of the rooms, but when she reached the last room in the corridor, she stopped dead.

The little metal novelty plaque on the door was shaped like a license plate, and charred horribly but there was no mistaking the name on the sign. This had been Derek's room. Skyler pushed the door inwards, her mind registering the lack of dust on it, and the contents of the room in general. Derek hadn't just been living in his old house, he had been living in his old bedroom. The bed was a double, covered in black sheets that looked like they needed a change, but definitely were not ten years old, which then provided Sky with the mental image of Derek doing laundry.

There was a large wooden desk in one corner of the room, the surface covered in deep gouges. She spread her fingers, matching them to the scratches. This must have been where Derek had learned to control his wolf side. Two bookshelves were pushed up against one wall, filled with old, thick tomes with titles that looked Latin, classics like the Great Gatsby and To Kill A Mockingbird, and some more recent novels. Skyler even saw the first two Harry Potter books on the shelf.

Sky breathed out a little sigh of amusement as she turned around, catching sight of a faded Nirvana poster over the bed. The corners had been burned away but the large yellow smiley face was intact. There was no way that that had stayed so pristine for the last decade. Derek must have rehung it. Her phone rang loudly, disrupting the silence and making her jump in surprise. Sky dug in her bag for her phone . When she pulled it out, Derek's name was flashing across the screen and Skyler breathed a sigh of relief at the idea of not being alone in the empty house anymore. She answered the call and pressed the phone to her ear.

"H-"

"Where are you?" Derek asked shortly before she even had a chance to greet him.

"Hi to you too," she sniped back, rolling her eyes at his tone. "I'm at yours."

"My what?"

"Your house, dumbass," Sky told him. She wandered over to the desk as she spoke, running her fingers over the books lying there. "I said that I needed to talk to you when I texted you, didn't I?"

"I haven't been back at that house since I buried Peter," Derek told her flatly.

Skyler took in a breath. She had never really considered just how hard that night had been for Derek. Okay, so he had totally screwed them over, but he had also seen a woman he had once loved killed, and had taken the life of his ex-favourite uncle.

"Brings back bad memories?" She asked softly.

"No. I buried him under the floorboards in the living room and it would be weird to keep staying there," Derek explained.

"He's buried in the house?!" She shrieked at him. No longer caring about disturbing the quiet of the house, Skyler darted out of the room and down the stairs, swearing at Derek all the while. "Jesus Christ, Derek! Son of a bitch! What the fuck?! Who does that, you freak?!"

"Where was I meant to put him?" He replied coolly. "What did you want to talk about, anyway?"

"About Boyd," she snapped back, stepping out the front and shivering in disgust. No wonder the center of the living room had been dust free, the floorboards had been pried up and laid back down to hide a corpse.

"You should probably come over then." He sighed after a short pause.

"Where are you living now?" She glanced up at the manor house. "Another haunted house, or is it an abandoned amusement park this time?"

"D'you know where the underground train station is?" He cut across her.

"Mmm," she grunted in response. It was at the edge of a disused industrial estate. It had been built several years ago, when the city council had decided to make an underground subway line to the more populated areas of California. The plan had been scrapped after they had realised that the cost would not justify the end product. All that was left was a large, empty underground room and a subway car. Stiles had pointed it out once when they had been bored of studying and he had taken her on a sightseeing tour. "What about it?"

"There."

"You're living there. Oh, for fuck's..." She trailed off, squeezing her eyes shut. Could Derek be more of a cliché? A werewolf hiding out in an abandoned house or an underground abandoned train station. "I'll be over there soon."

He hung up the call with a disinterested grunting noise. Skyler swore at the blank phone screen, shoving it back into her bag. She took one more quick look over her shoulder at the house and took off back the way she had came, popping her headphones back in. She was a hell of a lot quicker on the way back for the simple fact that now she felt like there was a chance that Peter would rise from his impromptu grave and eat her, or whatever the fuck werewolves did. By the time she reached her car, she was running. It only took her a few minutes to get from the Preserve to the train station, as both were on the outskirts of the town.

Derek was already waiting for her at the industrial estate, standing by what looked like doors to a storm cellar. He was wearing his usual leather jacket and matching scowl. Sky walked over to him, crossing her arms over her chest. They stood stock still, staring each the down for a long few seconds.

"Are you coming in or not?" He grumbled eventually, crouching down and pulling open the doors.

"This looks like a torture basement from 'Saw' or something. I think I preferred the other house," Skyler snapped back before brushing past and climbing through the doors.

She clutched at the metal railing, waiting until Derek overtook her, then followed him down the stairs. There were two voices coming from the bottom of the stairs, snapping and complaining at each other. Sky's step faltered and she began to have second thoughts about agreeing to come down here with Derek and who she assumed was Erica and Isaac. She had been so sure that he wouldn't let her get hurt, but in that moment, she started to wonder where that faith was coming from. She stepped off the stairs and onto the floor of the derelict station.

There were two large empty subway cars against the furthest wall, still outfitted with the seats and poles and benches. The rest of the room was filled with random boxes and crates. Erica and Isaac were sitting on two adjacent crates that were pushed against the subway car. Both looked exhausted and were covered in blood spatters and looked like they had been through the ringer. Isaac smiled tiredly at her as she glanced around. It was much more confidant than she had ever seen him before, but there was also a desperation behind the grin, as if he needed to impress her. Erica simply sneered. They both wore leather jackets that matched Derek's perfectly.

"Why's she here?" Erica spat the second that Derek was leaning casually against a wall.

"Because I invited her," Derek told her in a tone of complete finality.

"And, uh, I need to talk to you," Sky reminded him, twisting her bag strap in her hands and shifting uncomfortably on the spot. All three of them were staring at her, and the werewolf gaze seemed even more piercing than usual. "Can we speak in private?"

"No." He smirked slightly at the irritated and dumbfounded expression on her face. "They're my pack. Whatever you say to me can be said in front of them."

"Fine," she snapped back grumpily. "I wanna talk about Boyd." Derek quirked an eyebrow at her chin, which she had raised defiantly.

"What about me?"

Boyd was standing in the doorway of one of the subway cars, watching her intently. His arms were crossed over his impressive chest and his eyes were cast downwards. She couldn't quite place the expression on his face, and finally settled on defensive. Although, it did seem strange that a man who could probably snap Sky neck with as much effort as it took him to breathe would be defensive around her.

"Did you..." Sky glanced between them on horror. It was then that she realised, Boyd wasn't defensive. He was ashamed. "Did you bite him?!"

"Yes," Derek replied curtly, cutting across Boyd as the younger man opened his mouth. "What did you want to talk about Boyd for?"

"To convince you not to give him the bite," she admitted grudgingly.

"Scott tried the same tactic," Derek explained breezily. "He was too late as well. He did put up a good fight though."

"You went after Scott?!" Skyler shrieked incredulously. "Derek, what the hell?"

"He went after Boyd. Pack protects pack," Derek shot back.

"Scott wasn't going to hurt him," she insisted, practically stamping her feet.

"He hurt Isaac and Erica," Derek pointed out.

"And I wonder who started that particular fight," Sky snapped back, voice shaking with rage. Derek refused to answer and instead just stared at her, smirking. Skyler had almost forgotten about the other three werewolves in the room until Isaac cleared his throat awkwardly. He seemed highly uncomfortable with the situation, Erica, like Derek, was grinning wider the more worked up that Skyler became.

"I already got the same talk from Scott," Boyd cut in suddenly. It was the most that Sky had ever heard him speak in one go. "But I... I made my decision, and there's no going back now."

"There are hunters in this town. Of werewolves. Werewolf hunters that will be hunting you." Skyler cringed internally as she stated the obvious. She was turning into Stiles. "And the new principal of our school is one of them."

"Derek told me," he murmured quietly.

"And you still want to...?" Sky trailed off.

"I made my choice," he repeated. "And the hunters aren't a problem. It's like he said, we're a pack. We protect each other."

"He'll stab you in the back," Skyler snapped at him, ignoring the sharp look that Derek sent her from the corner. She was still a bit sour about him breaking his promise to Scott, and she was not the type to let something like that go.

"I trust him," Boyd told her firmly.

"Then you're stupid," she returned childishly, struggling to keep her temper under control.

"Y'know," Erica purred from her spot next to Isaac. "I think you're jealous." She pursed her lips and crossed her arms, pushing up her already overflowing breasts. Sky understood why the boys had stared, they were strangely mesmerising. "You had Zach, and Derek, and Stiles," she spat the name harshly. "Falling over themselves to please you. And now Zach's done with you, I hear that he's planning on asking Natasha out. She's hot, right?" Sky breathed out heavily through her nose, not letting Erica's words get a rise out of her. "Derek had new playmates now, and how long will it be before Stiles gets bored of you?"

"Is that everything?" Skyler asked quietly.

"Did it hurt that Stiles couldn't stop staring at me?" Erica continued, narrowing her eyes. Boyd was staring at them confusedly, and Isaac was flushing, looking uncomfortable. "That he wants me now that I am the way I am? That he just has to look."

Skyler smirked at her, feeling the satisfaction bubbling up inside her. It was childish and immature but she was looking forward to shoving it in Erica's face that her and Stiles were official now. She opened her mouth to tell the girl exactly what had happened between her and Stiles the other night, but she was cut off.

"Well, he definitely couldn't stop looking before I put him in a dumpster, at least," Erica grinned savagely at her.

"You did fucking what?" Skyler exclaimed. "What d'you mean you put him in a dumpster?!"

"Erica, enough." Derek had taken a step forward, glowering at both girls fiercly. "Sky, I think it's time for you to go."

"What does she mean she put him in a dumpster?" She repeated, turning to look over her shoulder at the three young werewolves as Derek pushed her up the stairs. He shoved the doors open and Sky clambered out without one iota of gracefulness. When she regained her balance, she swiveled to face him, planting her hands on her hips.

"What the HELL did she do to Stiles!?" Skyler demanded of him.

"I just asked her to delay him, her methods are her business," he replied flippantly.

"You gave a teenager that much power and then send her off to deal with an unarmed boy that she had a crush on, who took absolutely no notice of her for years, and you don't bother following up on exactly what she did to him?"

"Precisely." His voice was dry and Skyler knew that even if he did regret letting Erica go full throttle, he would never say it. "I'm sure he's fine."

"Dickhead. You are a dickhead," she said, pointing her finger at him accusingly. He raised his eyebrow and she sighed, raising her hand to pinch the bridge of her nose. "This so did not go the way I was hoping."

"You weren't going to make him change his mind, even if it was before I gave him the bite." Derek took a few steps forward, voice softening but not enough to seem friendly. "He wanted this."

"They all did, I know," Sky muttered in response. She could feel a headache forming behind her eyes. "Boyd was lonely, Erica got ignored and mocked by everyone, and Isaac's dad was beating the crap outta him. They all had their reasons." There was an uncomfortable pause in which Derek seemed to read her mind.

"He didn't kill his father. I don't know what did but it's definitely not human. I'm gonna find out what it is, before the Argents do," he added harshly. "You need to keep away from them. They're dangerous."

"I know. Scott told me about Gerard cutting that wolf in half in the forest." She had barely managed to stop herself from throwing up when Scott had told her and Stiles the story. "And now you've put three more targets on their radar. One of them is also fugitive from the law. You are harbouring a fugitive teen wolf."

"Is this why you didn't want me to turn Boyd?"

"Or Isaac or Erica either," she reminded him. "And not just for safety reasons, but because apparently becoming a werewolf means you also become an asshole."

"Isaac's confident now, that's all," he told her with a laugh.

"Oh, and Erica?" Sky asked with a quirked brow. "That's just confidence?" Derek snorted in amusement. "She used to be really nice. She covered for me in History when I was hungover. Now she's a bitch."

"If it's any comfort, I don't think she liked you much anyway," he said, watching her look of surprise. "She was jealous of you, because you had it so easy compared to her. She had been at that school years and she was only known for being the freak with epilepsy who wet herself in class. You waltz in, and within a day you're best friends with the most popular girl in school, and you have the boy she's liked for years falling at your feet." Derek looked at Sky with a sharp half smile on his face. "And now she's someone too."

"You know about the Stiles thing?" Sky asked awkwardly, looking away from him.

"She complained about it to Isaac for an hour before I told her to shut up," he replied, looking irritated. "So, yes, I know about the Stiles thing."

"And what happens when the Argents find out?" She continued, trying to quickly move past the Stiles subject, knowing that the argument was going nowhere but still determined to make Derek see sense. "When hunters with years of experience go up against three sixteen year olds who have been werewolves for about a week?"

"Pack protects pack," he reiterated.

Skyler was about to tell him that even he didn't have the ability to protect his new pack from hunters as experienced as the Argents when her phone started to ring. It was flashing brightly at the bottom of her bag and she dug through the books and papers to answer the call.

"Hello?" She held up a hand to silence Derek, who had started to huff impatiently.

Sky, you never texted me," came the voice from the other end of the line.

"Stiles." She let out a sigh of relief that she had been holding in since Erica had said that she put him in a dumpster. "Where are you? Are you okay?"

"Tell you in a minute. Are you okay?" He sounded exhausted, and she could hear movement in the background.

"I'm fine, I'm with Derek, but Boyd... I didn't get there in time." She jammed up her middle finger at Derek, who was now sighing at her in exasperation. "Erica said-"

"I'm okay, really," Stiles reassured her. "Roscoe's not though. She took a part out of the engine and hit me with it. I woke up in a dumpster and had to take Roscoe in to get him fixed."

"She hit you with a car part!? Derek, stop laughing, it's not funny! Stiles, are you still at the garage? I'll come and get you."

"Are you sure? I can always get a ride home with my dad when he finishes work tonight," he offered.

"Don't be silly. I'll be there in fifteen," she told him.

"Be safe."

Sky ended the call and shot daggers at Derek, who was still trying to stifle his laughter. "I need to go, but this conversation is not over," she insisted, backing towards her car.

"Yes, it is," Derek contradicted her, running a hand through his hair. "Because soon enough, we're all gonna have more important things on our minds than my pack."

"Derek, please," she implored, leaning against the driver's side door and watching him intently. "No more angst ridden teenage werewolves."

"Skyler-"

"At least until the Argent crisis is over," Skyler suggested, a last ditch attempt at a compromise. "Please?"

"I'll think about it," he conceded after a few seconds of silence.

"I"m gonna count that as a win," Sky said, mood brightening slightly as she looked down to open her car door. "Even if-" He was gone when she looked up. "Dickhead."

She slid into her seat and started the car, smiling softly at the sound of the engine roaring to life. She had seriously missed that car. Thankfully, the garage wasn't too far away, nothing ever was in Beacon Hills, and she knew exactly how to get there. She hummed along to an old Frank Sinatra CD as she drove, figuring that she needed some relaxation after the stress of the past few hours. She hadn't even noticed how dark it had become.

Sky was so completely preoccupied by the music and the dark road that she didn't notice the flashing blue and red lights until she was halfway down the street that led to the garage. Her heart stopped for a moment and she felt like she couldn't breathe. There was yellow police tape across the entrance to the garage parking lot, and several patrol cars were stopped just inside the line. Surely nothing that serious could've happened to Stiles in the last quarter of an hour. Sky stopped the car as close as she could get without hitting an officer, then literally fell out of the car.

"Excuse me, Miss, you can't be here," a deputy told her firmly as she made her way to the tape. "This is a crime scene."

"Just tell me what happened here, please," she begged, pushing up onto her tiptoes to try and catch sight of Stiles. The only thing she could see was an ambulance with its rear doors standing open.

"This is an active crime scene," she repeated, giving Sky an apologetic grimace. "We can't give out any information. I'm very sorry, Miss."

"Look, just tell me if Stiles is okay," Sky continued, grabbing the deputy's arm as she went to turn away. "He's about my height, buzzed dark brown hair, brown eyes, probably wearing flannel, hyperactive. Just tell me if he's okay." Her breath was coming in gasps by the time she was finished speaking, and the deputy looked terrified at the prospect of dealing with a hyperventilating teenager.

"Do you mean the Sheriff's kid?" The woman asked.

"Yes. Yeah. Stiles Stilinski," Skyler nodded energetically.

The deputy watched Sky for a second before grabbing her radio and holding down the call button. "Hey, I'm down at the entrance, and there's some kid asking about the Sheriff's son. Can you let him know?" There was a pause. "Thanks man." She turned to Sky and squeezed the younger girl's shoulder. "Just stay here a minute, please." The woman detached herself from Skyler and ducked under the tape, striding away.

"Wait! Wait! Hey, is he alright?!" Skyler yelled after her. The deputy didn't respond, and Sky ran her hands through her hair, groaning in frustration. If Stiles was alright, surely the woman could've just told her, but if some thing was wrong... And Stiles had been the one that was worried about her being out on her own. She chewed on bottom lip, hugging herself inside her oversized shirt.

"Skyler."

Her head snapped up, catching sight of the Sheriff coming round the corner of the main garage building and calling out to her as he waved at the female deputy who jogged over and lifted the tape for Sky to duck under. Her heart rate sped up as she caught sight of the worried look on the Sheriff's face. Her step faltered for a second before another figure appeared from behind the building. Even from this distance, she recognised the buzzcut and the blue flannel shirt. He looked absolutely exhausted.

All the tension drained from her body in seconds, letting her shoulders sag. She took a step towards him, then another, getting faster and faster until she was running. She collided with Stiles next to his father's patrol car, wrapping her arms around him as tightly as she could. Her hands gripped at the hem of his shirt, feeling the flushed heat of his skin and finding comfort in the proof that he was still safe and alive. He reached around her and held her with much less aggression and force than she was showing.

"I'm fine," he murmured softly, resting his chin on her forehead.

"What the hell happened here?" She demanded, nuzzling closer to him.

"I'll tell you in the car, it's something that probably shouldn't be discussed out here," Stiles told her, drawing back and glancing around nervously.

She nodded understandingly, and was about to drag him over to her car when a gurney was wheeled out of the garage. "Holy fuck, what is that?" Sky demanded, covering her mouth with her hand to stop herself gagging. She wasn't quite sure why she asked what it was, because it was obviously a dead human body underneath the sheet.

"I didn't do it!" Stiles yelled back in a panicked voice, waving his arms wildly.

"I know you didn't do it!" She hissed back. "Jesus Christ, Stiles, why is there a dead body?"

"Just a minute," he told her, turning to face his dad.

"Skyler," the Sheriff nodded in her direction. "Is everything okay?"

"I just came to pick up Stiles," she replied, glaring at her boyfriend. The word still made her feel lightheaded. "He said there was something wrong with the Jeep. I didn't know about the..." She gestured at the gurney and ambulance.

"Well, Stiles had a habit of turning up wherever there's trouble," the Sheriff grumbled, albeit softer than usual. He turned to his son and frowned worriedly. "Did you give your statement to someone?"

"Yeah, Tara," Stiles mumbled back, pointing out a young deputy who looked like she was ready to slap whoever called her out to the scene. "She said I'm fine to go once the ME checked me over. I'm fine, dad, really." He rested a hand on his father's shoulder, moving stiffly as if he had cramps. "Sky's gonna bring me home."

Stiles' father glanced over at her and smiled. "I'll be home soon, I promise. If you wanna stay up until I get back, we can talk." Sky ducked her head and looked away, letting them have their private moment.

"Dad, it's okay," Stiles reassured him. "You obviously have a lot to deal with and I'm probably just gonna head straight to bed."

"If you're sure." He looked at his son worriedly for a second before reaching out to grip Stiles' shoulder and pulling him into a tight hug. They held each other for a few seconds, thumping each other's backs in that way that men so often did. They separated and the Sheriff smiled grimly at Skyler before striding away to talk to a bored looking detective.

"Come on," Sky whispered softly so that only Stiles could hear. He held out his hand to hers and she noticed, for the first time, that it was shaking. She led him out, ducking under the crime scene tape. Sky slid back into the driver's side door which she had left open when she had originally climbed out of the car. He slid into the passenger seat and leaned his head back against the bench seat.

"You guys okay?"

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Skyler jumped and twisted in her seat. Scott's head was peeping over the top of the seat, peering at the two of them.

"Sorry," he scrunched up his face and ungracefully clambered upright. "I was just with Deaton, and Stiles called me and..." They both glanced over at Stiles, whose entire body was shaking slightly.

"Stiles," Sky murmured, running a hand down his arm gently. "Stiles, hey, tell me what's wrong? What happened in there?"

"The guy was fixing Roscoe, and I was in the waiting room." Stiles stopped for a second and took a deep breath. "And I touched the door handle and it was covered in this weird gooey stuff and I started feeling all tingly and after a minute...I just couldn't move. It was like I was paralysed." Stiles looked down and his hands in his lap, and Skyler and Scott glanced at each other in alarm. "And I could see the mechanic through the door, and he was on the ground too. Roscoe was up on the lift and it just started to lower. And he couldn't move."

"Hey, hey, Stiles. Stiles, it's okay," Sky told him softly. He was starting to breathe heavily, chest heaving. She ran her hand down his arm once more and covered his hand with hers, squeezing his fingers comfortingly. Scott shuffled over, placing a hand on his best friend's shoulder and quietly urging him to carry on.

"That was it. I just about able to call my dad's office and then I couldn't move anymore. I had to watch it crush him, and..." He took in a shuddering breath and looked at them. "I saw it. The creature. I saw it."

"You okay?" Scott asked again.

"Yeah. You were right. It's not like you." Stiles was speaking with much more ease now. "I mean, its eyes were actually reptilian. But there was something about them."

"What do you mean?" Sky asked him confusedly.

"You know when you see, like, a friend in a Halloween mask, but all you can actually see are their eyes and you feel like you know 'em but you just can't figure out who it is?" Stiles asked them.

"Are you saying you know who it is?" Scott stared at him.

"No," Stiles corrected him. "But I think it knew me."

"How do we even know that it's a who?" Skyler interjected. "Just because Scott turns back into a human, doesn't mean that this thing does too."

"So, you think that whatever it is could be like that all the time?" Stiles furrowed his brows at her.

"I'm just saying that it's a possibility," Skyler pointed out. "We should probably ask Derek." There was a simultaneous groan from both boys. "Alright, I know that he's a dickhead, but he'll know better than anyone."

"How did your talk with him go?" Stiles asked dryly.

"I told him not to make any new werewolves before we've finished dealing with the Argent problem, and, I guess, this problem now," she told him.

"And what did he say?"

"He would think about it," she muttered.

"How productive," Stiles drawled.

"Alright, fuck you, I'm taking you home," Sky snapped without any real anger, jamming her key into the ignition and letting the engine roar to life. She looked over her shoulder at Scott. "I assume you want a lift too?"

"Please," he smiled at her. "I kinda ran here from Deaton's."

"I heard about you getting your ass kicked," she told him with a grimace as she pulled back out onto the road.

"What the hell happened? Who kicked your ass?" Stiles demanded.

"Derek."

"And you're still comfortable with being alone with him?" Stiles glared at Skyler, obviously judging her poor life choices.

"Moving swiftly on," she returned. "Are you okay, Scott?"

"I'm healing, just slower than usual," Scott explained. "Deaton said it was because Derek's an Alpha. And then the Argents showed up."

"All of them?"

"No, just Chris and Gerard," he confirmed.

"And what did they want?" Stiles asked.

"They had a body with them," he said with a disgusted tone. "One of their hunters. They found him dead in the Preserve out by Derek's yesterday-"

"Okay, you are officially not allowed to go out there on your own anymore," Stiles addressed Skyler firmly.

"You can't tell me what to do," she told him. "Now shut up, let Scott finish."

"He had these claw marks, but there were five lines, spaced apart like a human hand." The three exchanged uneasy glances.

"And that's why you think it's a person rather than just a creature?" Sky realised.

"One of the reasons, yeah," he said.

Skyler drew to a halt at the foot of Scott's driveway, and she and Stiles shifted around to face him. "Are you gonna be okay on your own tonight?" Stiles asked his best friend, entire face creased with worry.

"Yeah. Are you?" He responded. Stiles looked down, nodding after a brief moment of hesitation.

"Right. Night, man," Scott said, leaning forward to clasp Stiles shoulder for a second. "Night, Skyler. Thanks for the lift."

"Night," they chorused in return, watching him clamber out of the car and jog up the driveway to his front door. She pulled away from the curb once he was inside, heading in the direction of Stiles' house. It was only a few minutes drive away, several streets over. Neither of them spoke until they were parked in Stiles' driveway, engine turned off and seat belts undone.

"Stiles, are you really okay?" Sky asked him after a minute of silence.

"I saw him die, and I know it's not my fault, but..." He trailed off, tongue flickering out to wet his lips. "I just had to lie there and watch."

"Do you want to talk about it?" She stretched out her hand and twined their fingers together.

"What is there to talk about?" He threw back. His voice sounded absolutely exhausted.

"I don't know." She sighed resting hear head against the window and glancing out at the late January darkness. "But you know you can always talk to me."

"I know," he replied. "I always could, even before we..." He slumped down in his seat, motioning between them with his free hand in a gesture that both of them used to represent their new found relationship. "It's one of the reasons I like you so much."

"I like you so much too," Skyler told him. They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, still holding hands, until Sky asked the question she had been dying to ask since she had seen Stiles because she was obviously some kind of masochist. "So, what happened with Erica?"

"She hit me with the starter from Roscoe and knocked me out," Stiles explained. "When I woke up, I was in a dumpster."

"And that's it?" Sky asked shrilly.

"Yeah. Why?" He narrowed his eyes, staring at her with suspicion now.

"It's just that... Well, when I went to see Derek, Erica was there too, and she said some things," Skyler admitted.

"What things?" He sat up straight in his seat, peering even harder at her. "What did she say.

"That you couldn't stop looking at her," Sky mumbled, trying not to sound overly jealous or petty. "She is very pretty."

"Are you jealous?" Stiles' voice had become light and teasing.

"No! Shut up," she snapped back, jerking her hand out of Stiles'.

"There's no need to be jealous," he shifted over towards her. It was freezing in the car and Sky fought not to snuggle closer to him for warmth. "I mean, sure, Erica looks..." Stiles searched wildly for an adjective that would raise Skyler's ire the least. "Nice. Ow! Jesus Christ, woman!" He flinched as she smacked him on the arm as hard as she could manage.

"You're a jerk," she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You didn't let me finish," he chided her, reaching out and gripping her chin, moving her head to face him. "Okay, so Erica's hot now, but you... You are so beautiful, intelligent, hilarious, you never do what I tell you which is endearingly frustrating, you are a total dork and you could've had Zach, one of the hottest, most popular guys in the school, but you chose me."

"It was always gonna be you," she grinned, biting her bottom lip. "Zach's great but he's my friend, and you, well you're my Stiles."

"And you're my Skyler," he shot back, leaning in and resting his forehead against hers. "And you are worth a thousand scary female werewolves." She let out a short breathy laugh and leaned in, letting her eyes flicker shut and raising her hands to cup either side of Stiles' face. She expected to meet Stiles halfway and groaned in irritation when he drew back. "Also you're, like, totally smokin' hot. Like hotter than Erica by several thousand miles."

"Shut up," Sky giggled and pulled him back in.

This time their lips collided softly, and Sky huffed out a little sigh of satisfaction. They were both twisted sideways on the bench seat, Sky still gripping his face and Stiles moving one hand to his favourite spot on the small of her back and the other to the top of one of her thighs. He was always freakishly warm and Sky moved closer to him, pressing their chests together. Stiles sucked in a breath as he felt her breasts rub against him and kissed her harder, fighting back the embarrassed flush that always seemed to arise when he was kissing Skyler. Her back arched to get closer to him as felt the pressure increase. She took the initiative and opened her mouth slightly, sliding her tongue along Stiles's bottom lip.

He groaned loudly, hand constricting on her thigh, then stiffened, hoping that he hadn't taken it too far. Sky waited a second to see if he would move again before pressing her tongue harder against his lips. Once Stiles was sure that she was comfortable with where this was going, he let his lips fall open and welcomed her tongue with his. It was awkward at first, both finding their rhythm which included the minimum of bumping teeth and Skyler almost biting Stiles' tongue. Eventually, they settled into a comfortable pattern.

Stiles had tilted her head back gently, fixing the problem of their height difference and had one hand braced on the seat behind Sky, keeping them both upright. Sky had moved her hands down to his waist, playing with the hem of his shirt. She now understood what Allison and Lydia had been speaking about when they described the rush they felt with Scott and Jackson. Everything was warm and perfect, and the heat and weight of Stiles' pressed against her body was setting her completely on edge. She was pulling back to take a breath when Stiles' tongue brushed hers just so, and she gasped in delight, making a split second decision to run her hands under his shirt to grip at the bare skin of his waist. He yelped in surprise at her cold touch and lifted the arm that had been supporting them off the seat. Without his hand to hold her up, Sky dropped onto her back on the seat, banging the top of her head against the car door.

"Fuck!" She swore.

"Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!" Stiles leaned over her, patting her head gently in a manner that was anything but comforting.

"Stiles. Stiles, stop it, I'm fine," she told him, grabbing him by the wrists and removing his hands from her head. "I'm fine, it just hurt a bit. I'll live."

He stared down at her with worry, kneeling over her with one leg outside of her hip, and his knee resting between her legs. Skyler released his arms slowly, running her hands up to his shoulders and pulling him back down. She caught his lips again and returned to their abandoned rhythm. It was not as romantic as the movies portrayed it to be, but it felt seriously good. Stiles was trying his best not to lie on top of her and crush the air out of her lungs, but Sky was still struggling to find her breath. And once she tried to hook her leg around Stiles' waist and simply succeeded in getting leg jammed between him and the car horn, prompting several angry shouts from neighbours as they wriggled free.

Stiles' mouth never strayed beyond hers, and Skyler kept her hands strictly above his clothing. As makeout sessions went, it was fairly tame, but it was Stiles' first in which they had been totally alone and he had wanted to make sure that Skyer was comfortable before they went any further. In the end, it had been Stiles that had pulled the plug and told Sky that they needed to stop because it was nearing midnight and they had school in the morning. It was a lame excuse for the fact that Stiles was finding it hard to control himself with Skyler lying under him and moaning and gasping and clutching him, and he needed to go inside and take care of himself.

"You promise that you'll lock the door and all the windows once you get inside?" Sky called out the car window after Stiles as he stood on the porch.

"I promise," he yelled back. "And do you promise to text me when you get home? Actually text me this time."

"Yeah, whatever, mom," Sky drawled, flipping him the bird as he slipped in the door. She waited until she saw his bedroom light flicker on before starting the car.

She spent the entire the drive looking over her shoulder, peering into the darkness to see a hint of creepy lizard creatures or the Argents. Thankfully, she made it back to her house in one piece. The lights were off in every window, and, presumably, Nick and Rebecca were asleep, like normal people should be at this time of night. She let herself in quietly and locked the door behind her. Following that, she went from room to room, checking each door and window to make sure that the house was perfectly secure. Once she was in her room, Skyler shed her clothes and dressed herself in her usual plaid pants and Mickey Mouse shirt. Absolutely none of her homework had been completed that day and she would have to find an excuse to feed to her teachers, but she was too tired to think about that now.

She practically fell into bed, shooting off a quick text to Stiles to let him know that she was at home and safe in bed. It was only a few moments before a reply arrived, which consisted of the word 'Goodnight' followed by a line of twelve toilet emojis. She adored him but she was sure that she would never fully understand him. Flicking off her bedside lamp, she basked in the warmth of her bed and the darkness of her room. Her days may have been tiring but at least the exhaustion guaranteed a good night's sleep. Skyler snuggled down beneath her duvet and was asleep within seconds, dreaming of hunters and lizards and Stiles' lips.


	7. Psycho Lizard, Qu'Est-Ce Que C'est?

_**I am so sorry. It's been nearly two months and that's unacceptable, it's just been a really busy time. I've been abroad and to Glastonbury and then abroad again for my Great Grandma's funeral and we had to switch wifi providers and I was without my laptop for weeks. So to make up for it, I'm posting two chapters tonight. Apologies for any mistakes, they were written very quickly and mostly on my phone. Please enjoy and please leave a review. I love hearing from you guys and any idea you want to submit or suggestions or criticisms. Love you guys and thanks for sticking with me even when I'm a dickhead that doesn't update X**_

 _ **SUPER IMPORTANT PS: I'm not American and I live in Ireland but I am asking you guys for the sake of everyone on the planet, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT VOTE FOR DONALD TRUMP AS PRESIDENT. He is racist and xenophobic and homophobic and a horrible person, and I know that people think that Hillary Clinton isn't much better but anything's better than that man in office. I am begging you. Thanks.**_

"I'm so sorry about the other day. I'm trying. We'll get through this. Uh, I know, because I love you. I love you more than... Oh my God. I can't. You and Allison just have to find a better way to communicate." The earnest expression on Stiles' face slipped off and he grimaced at Scott.

Skyler laughed at the exasperated look on her boyfriend's face. She was seated a step or two higher than the pair of best friends, watching the exchange with amusement.

"Come on, you're the only one that we can trust," Scott implored. Sky could hear the rest of that sentence hanging unspoken between them, 'Seeing as Skyler refused point blank to do it.' "Is she coming to the game tonight?"

"Yes! Okay, message complete," Stiles drew closer to Scott and tugged Skyler down another step so that all three could huddle closer together. "Now, tell us about your boss." Skyler had only met Scott's boss, Deaton, once. Her and Stiles had been picking Scott up from work on a night that it was raining. He had seemed perfectly polite and Sky had seen no reason not to trust him, but Stiles was paranoid.

"He thinks that Allison's family keeps some kind of, uh, records of all the things that they've hunted," Scott explained, glancing around suspiciously. "Like a book."

"He probably means a bestiary," Stiles provided.

"What?" Scott asked, grinning childishly.

"A bestiary," Skyler confirmed.

"I think you mean bestiality," Scott told them through stifled laughter.

"Nope, pretty sure I don't," Stiles corrected him whilst rolling his eyes. He was painfully disappointed in the fact that Scott still knew practically nothing about the world of the supernatural. "It's like an encyclopedia of mythical creatures."

"How am I the only one who doesn't know anything about this stuff?" Scott asked almost sadly.

"Because we're nerds and we watch and read a shit ton of supernatural stuff," Skyler explained, ruffling his hair.

"Also, you're my best friend, you're a creature of the night, it's kind of like a priority of mine." Stiles and Scott grinned at each other and Sky's heart swelled at the display of friendship. She would usually leave them to their own to their devices to have their bestie time but Lydia was in a counselling session with Morrell.

"You know, when you call him a 'creature of the night', you make him sound like a prostitute," Skyler pointed out, without thinking. Stiles glanced back at her in shock, whereas Scott just looked vaguely disgusted. "Sorry."

"Anyway," Scott continued, looking uncomfortable. "If we can find it, and it can tell us what that thing is-"

"And who," Stiles interrupted.

"We need that book!" They spoke in unison after a second's pause. Skyler jumped at just how creepy it was when they did that. Stiles nodded at them both and took off down the hall at a swift run.

"Do you guys even know how weird it is when you do that?" She said to Scott, moving down a few steps to sit next to him. "It's like you guys share a mind. A hive mind."

He laughed quietly, watching Stiles exit through the doors of the school. "We just know each other really, really well. I mean since we were kids, we met in the-"

"Sandbox, the first day of kindergarten," Sky filled in for him with a smile. "Stiles loves telling me the story."

"And we've been best friends since then," Scott told her pointedly.

"I feel like this is going somewhere."

"Stiles told me that you two are dating now," Scott carried on, trying to sound firm and professional.

"Oh, so this is the shovel talk?" Sky asked, sitting up straighter. She knew that this was coming, the inevitable 'Hurt him and I'll kill you speech'. It had taken tremendous effort on Skyler's part to stop Lydia from giving Stiles one of those talks. She knew just how intimidating her best friend could be, and she didn't want to scare Stiles away before they had even had their first official date.

"The shovel talk?"

"You know. You're gonna tell me that if I hurt Stiles, you will hunt me down and beat me to death with a shovel," she explained, voice soft.

"Yeah," he said with a short chuckle. "And I know you wouldn't ever hurt him but..."

"Scott, you can say what you need to say," Skyler told him. "I'm not gonna get offended."

"It's just that he really likes you, like actually really likes you. I mean, he talks about you all the time, like, as much as I talk about Allison, and I know how much he finds that annoying, but I mean sometimes everything I want to say about her just bubbles up inside, and..." He stopped as he saw the mildly irritated look on Sky's face, that, granted, she was trying her best to hide. "Sorry, it's hard to find someone to listen to me about Allison."

"It's fine. If you ever need someone to talk to when you're pissing Stiles off, I'm always here." She nudged his side with her elbow in a friendly gesture. She wouldn't enjoy hearing about Allison, but she would be there if Scott needed her. That's what friends were for. "Anyway, Stiles."

"Yeah, so, he cares about you a lot, and he has done for a while. That night that he got drunk and called you to ask if Lydia wanted to go to the formal with him, he was originally calling to ask you." It didn't come as a surprise to Skyler, she had discussed that particular conversation with Stiles a few weeks ago. "And I've never seen him so nervous in his entire life. In the end, he decided not to ask you on the off chance that you said no and your was ruined. Even though the rest of us totally knew how you felt about him at this point," he told her smugly.

"Yeah, yeah, I know that everyone besides me knew before me, I have heard that before," she shot back, wrinkling her nose at him in irritation.

"And he was completely out of his mind when Kate shot you," Scott said. Skyler bit back the urge to remind Scott that it was actually Allison who shot her. "And when they needed a blood transfusion for you, Stiles was ready to just cut open his arm and bleed out for you." He paused and took a deep breath. "And I know that you really care about him too." His eyes flickered down and back to hers.

"Scott, I do care about him, I swear." Sky reached across and rested her hand on his shoulder in a friendly gesture.

"Just, please, don't hurt him," Scott implored, then went on in a much lighter tone. "'Cause he's way more sensitive than he seems."

A few of the students walking down the stairs around them paused as Skyler let out a loud snort of amusement. "I'm not planning on it anytime soon," she reassured him. "Your best friend's feelings are safe with me."

Scott gave her a tiny smile, and ran a hand over his newly short hair. "If it means anything, I'm glad that it's you." It meant a hell of a lot to Skyler. "I mean, you and him are kinda perfect for each other."

"That does mean something to me." Sky slid her hand from his shoulder around the back of his neck and pulled him in for a hug. He wound his arms around her middle, being careful to keep himself from holding her waist, as that was now Stiles' territory.

"What. Are you guys. Talking about?" Stiles asked between heaving breaths, eyes flickering almost distrustfully between his best friend and girlfriend. Neither of them had noticed him running back into the school, but the girl crouched on the floor picking up her books and glaring daggers at him definitely had.

"Top secret things," Sky replied lightly, pulling away from Scott. "Complaining about how awful you are, Scott's terrible taste in women, first period English. Y'know."

Stiles narrowed his eyes at her but carried on once he had regained his breath. "Yes. Seen her grandfather. With a book like that."

"Find out where he keeps it!" Scott exclaimed, waving his arms at his friend. Stiles bent over, placing his hands on his thighs for a few seconds, pulling in a few deep breaths before taking off the way he came.

"You could just call her, or text her," Skyler pointed out, picking at her nails absentmindedly. "Email her or something."

"Her parents check everything." Scott dropped his chin into his hands, glaring at the ground as if it had done him some great personal wrong. "Phone, laptop, computer. There's no way I can get in touch with her without using Stiles."

"So poor old Stiles has to run back and forth between you two all the live long day?" She asked, pulling the edge of her turquoise skirt down to cover her knees. "And you act like I have him pussy whipped." Scott grinned over at her as Stiles reappeared at the end of the hall, moving notably slower.

"She says." He gasped in a massive lungful of air, clutching at the railing of the stairs for support. "Has to be... Office."

"Alright, alright," Scott chewed on his bottom lip. "Can she get it?"

Stiles sent him the most 'are you effing kidding me' look that Sky had ever seen, before practically limping away down the hall. They sat in silence together for a few minutes, both reading over chemistry notes for Harris' weekly revision test. Sky could tell that something was wrong when she stopped hearing Scott flicking through the pages of his book. He took a few small breaths, as if he was about to start speaking, before falling silent again.

"What is it, Scott?" Sky interrupted his weird sighing ritual after a minute of the irritating noise.

"What?" The boy pretended, unconvincingly, that he had no idea what she was talking about.

"What did you want to say?" Sky clarified, rolling her eyes at him. "It's obvious that you have something to say."

"Oh, it's nothing..." Scott glanced up and took in the look on her face, deciding it was better to just say what was on his mind. "Alright. It's just. I just wanted to say that... Skyler, I'm really sorry about what happened on my first full moon."

She stared at him for a second, mouth open, as she organised her thoughts. That day hadn't crossed her mind in a while. "Jesus, Scott. It's fine, it's okay, it's in the past." She reassured him as best she could.

"It doesn't matter if it's in the past, Sky, it happened and I'm sorry," he insisted. His eyes were wide and apologetic, but his mouth was set in a firm line. "The things I said to you, Sky, the things I did." Her heart contracted painfully at the look of self-loathing on his face. "I thought Stiles was gonna kill me when he found out what happened, and I would've deserved it too."

"No, Scott, you wouldn't have," she told him. "You weren't yourself. You didn't know what you were doing. I know you would never have done it if you were in your right mind." She reached out and placed a hand on Scott's shoulder comfortingly. "And, hey, at least I got something out of it. You are quite a good kisser."

"That was a joke, right?" Scott asked, his face still contorted in a look of self loathing.

"Yeah, that was a joke," she clarified, dropping her hand back to rest at her side. "Just trying to lighten the mood."

"Even after that," Scott continued. "The stuff I said about Stiles never liking you, about you never being as good as Lydia. Skyler, it was all bullshit. From the second you arrived it was you, it was always gonna be you."

She pulled him in for another quick hug. People grumbled as they tried to make their way around the pair but Sky was happy to stay where she was. It meant an indescribable amount to her that Scott approved of her and thought that she was good enough for his best friend.

"Oh, and Sky, one last thing."

She furrowed her brows as they drew apart. What could Scott possibly have to apologise for now?

"I don't think that you are, but I was just wondering," he said as he ran a hand through his hair. "Is there anything going on between you and Derek?"

"What?!" Skyler screwed up her face in confusion. "Sure, he's hot and all, but Derek's like ten years older than me and he's a total jerk. Where the hell did you get that idea?"

"I didn't think you were, I was just asking," he insisted. "It's just that the night that Stiles got drunk, he started asking did I think that there was anything between you two 'cause he didn't like the way you guys acted around each other and you were so worried about him and he was so protective of you."

"No, Scott, just no." She would be lying if she said that she had never thought about it, but thinking about Derek would be as far as she ever went.

"I know that, but Stiles," he huffed out a breath. "I mean you get insecure about Lydia, but Stiles gets insecure about any guy that seems to show interest in you. Derek, Zach, and he was seriously unhappy about you seeing Isaac after he was turned. Not sure where that one came from."

"Well, I will assure him that there is nothing to worry about," Sky promised. "There really isn't. Stiles is something special. Derek couldn't hold a candle to him."

The object of their discussion fell back through the doors, sliding to the floor as he tried feebly to hold himself up. Scott and Skyler took that as their cue to hurriedly jam their books back into their bags and make their way over to Stiles, slinging an arm each around him and supporting his weight. Stiles puffed from Scott's spare inhaler, which he always carried as his friend was woefully forgetful, as they hauled him back over to the stairs.

"What did she say?" Scott pressed, the second they were seated again.

"She needs...her grandfathers...keys...to get...the book." Stiles managed to wheeze.

Sky had returned to her seat one step above the boys, and Stiles had leaned back after a few seconds, resting his back against her chest. They had sat like this plenty of times before, but she felt a sudden thrill at the newfound intimacy of the action.

"And does she have a way to get the keys?" Scott kept speaking, either uncaring or unaware of Stiles current state.

"Not without...help," he murmured, recovering slowly but surely from the physical exercise. "She said we could do it...at the game tonight."

"Okay, okay, okay." Scott furrow his brows, concentrating on his knees as his mind tried to formulate a plan.

"You okay?" Sky leaned down to whisper into Stiles' ear.

"Just about," he replied. His entire body was shaking slightly, strengthening Sky's resolve to help him get fit for the next lacrosse season. He twisted his head to look up at her with adoring eyes. "Uh, Skyler, I was thinking-"

"Did it hurt?"

"Shut up," he responded sweetly. "I was thinking that we havent had a proper date yet. I mean, the ice-skating was meant to be just us but then Allison and Scott came, and you brought Lydia, and the whole idea went down the drain."

"I still had fun," she told him. It was the truth. Okay, so the night hadn't gone exactly as planned, and Lydia had had a bit of a breakdown at the end, but overall it had been a fun night out with friends. "It was a pretty great time. Mostly."

"Yeah, but it wasn't a proper date. It wasn't just us," he pointed out. "So, when we have some free time soon, and there are no you-know-whats or lizardy things to deal with, then we could maybe, possibly, if you want to, go on a real date."

"I'd love that," Sky grinned widely at him, biting her bottom lip. "That'd be great."

"Really?!"

She rolled her eyes at Stiles. "Yes, really." Even after the small reassurance, Stiles still looked suspicious. "Why wouldn't I want to go on a date with you? If I want to be your girlfriend, then it's probably safe to assume that I want to go on a date with you."

"I have the perfect idea." Stiles' eyes lit up as he realised that she was being serious and that, if both of the had their way, there would be many more dates to come.

"Okay, but then I get to choose where we go for the next date," she agreed.

"Are you free next Friday?" Stiles asked in what Sky had come to know was his Plotting Voice.

"I'm fairly sure that I am, yeah," she said. "What are we doing?"

"Can't tell you." Stiles shook his head, his grin wicked and infuriating. "It's a surprise."

"What! That's over a week!" She exclaimed. "You can't do that."

"But it won't be fun if it's not a suprise," Stiles reasoned with her.

"But I'll get annoyed if you don't tell me what we're doing," she countered. "For a whole week."

"Tough luck."

Sky glared down at him. His stubbornness was only endearing when he was stubborn with other people.

"Okay guys, so, I have a plan," Scott piped up.

"Great, 'cause these always go so well," Stiles said with a quick roll of his eyes.

Scott gave him a pained look then set about explaining his idea. "At the game tonight, Allison can get the keys from Gerard and slip them to you, I'll stay and play the match, make sure that he doesn't go anywhere." He raised his eyebrows to make sure that they were paying attention and they nodded to urge him on. "You go into his office and find the book. It had to be there somewhere."

"Scott, anyone, at any time, could just come strolling down the corridor and find me rifling through the principal's desk," Stiles pointed out.

"That's why you're taking Skyler with you," Scott said.

"Uh, no."

"Uh, yes," Skyler shot back, glaring at him. "What have I told you about telling me what to do?"

"She's kinda right, Stiles." Scott flinched under Stiles' harsh gaze. "Well it'd be better for you to have back-up."

"Does it have to be Skyler?" Stiles whined, tilting his head up to her, wearing a plaintive expression. "I just wanna keep you safe. I don't want you near any of those psycho werewolves or psycho werewolf hunters."

"I am not gonna just sit there and let you guys do all the work while I watch the lacrosse," she insisted.

"No, you'll be making sure that Gerard stays where he is," Stiles pointed out to her.

"Scott literally just said that that was what he was going to be doing." She raised a single eyebrow at him in growing irritation. Stiles face grew blank, evidently searching for some other job that he could stick her with. "Y'know," she started up again after a minute. "I could always just stay at home during the match, maybe with someone there to protect me. Derek, perhaps, or possibly Isaac." She knew that that would be the straw that broke Stiles' back.

"No, no, no, no. Nope." He shook his head vigourously and drew himself up to his fullest height. "You'd be safer with us, we all know it."

"No, but really, if you want to protect me-"

"I can protect you," Stiles told her firmly. "I can look after you just fine."

"I'm sure you can, babe," Sky reassured him, running a soothing hand over his hair.

"Right, so if we have that sorted out, Stiles maybe you could go and tell Allison-"

"No!" He snapped at his best friend, taking a heaving breath to emphasise his exhaustion. "Go tell her yourself."

"You know I can't," he complained. "You know what her parents are like. Her dad'll kill me if he sees me anywhere near her." They both turned to Skyler with wide-eyed, puppy dog looks on their faces.

"Nope," Sky said. "I don't want to talk to her."

"Skyler, please," Scott begged. "C'mon."

"Are you asshats all forgetting the part where she shot me. She shot me!" She hissed at them. "And I kinda kissed her boyfriend and kept the fact that her boyfriend was a werewolf from her. We do not like each other."

"As a favour for me, please," Scott stuck out his lower lip, avoiding Stiles' eyes as Sky mentioned their previous kiss. "I don't want her dad to kill me!"

"And I don't want her dad to kill me either," Sky reasoned. "He's terrifying. Sexy, but terrifying." Both boys shot her a visibly disturbed look and she shrugged a shoulder in response. "He is."

"I'm not fighting you on you coming with me tonight," Stiles reminded her. "So can you do this? For me?"

"Uch." Sky threw her eyes upwards but clambered to her feet all the same. "I don't like this. I do not like doing this at all."

"Thank you," Scott smiled up at her.

"Yeah, yeah."

"See you in Algebra," Stiles called out to her, and she bent to kiss him briefly..

She turned her back on them as she walked away down the corridor, dodging the other students, and enjoying the small, pleasurable tingle in her lips. The whispers of the two boys were barely audible as she pushed through the doors and out into the unnaturally bitter and grey weather that was supposedly usual around this time of year. Allison was sitting on one of the uncomfortable metal benches at the edge of the parking lot.

"Hey." She threw herself down on the bench next to Allison. The dark haired girl looked over at her in surprise and vague distaste. "Stiles is getting tired, so I just came to fill you in on the plan for tonight."

Allison gave a sharp nod but wouldn't quite meet Skyler's eyes. Sky smoothed out her skirt and hurriedly ran through Scott's less than airtight plan, trying not to seem suspicious while also scanning the surrounding area for any other Argent.

"You think you can get us his keys and keep him distracted?" She asked when she was finished.

"Yeah. Yeah, I can do it," Allison said slowly. "And you and Stiles are gonna be going searching his office for the beastiary thing?"

"If we can get the keys."

"You'll get them," Allison snapped.

Sky held up her hands defensively and stood. The front of the school was facing toward them, and Sky could see the window of the guidance counsellor's office from where she was stood. She knew that Lydia had an appointment this lunchtime with Morrell and wondered how it was playing. Morrell had her work cut out for her trying to get Lydia to trust her and open up about her problems. That morning at the lockers, Sky had been subjected to a ten minute rant from Lydia, demanding to know what qualifications a French teacher possessed that made her a suitable guidance counsellor.

"Allison-" Skyler turned back. "-I think we need to talk to Lydia."

"About what?"

"How she is after the Peter thing." Sky tugged on a strand of hair, shifting from one foot to the other. "She's obviously not dealing very well. Remember the ice-rink?"

"And if she tells us that she's not okay, what are we gonna do?" Allison said. "We can't very well tell her that technically she should be a werewolf because the guy who attacked her was Derek's supposedly comatose werewolf uncle. Oh, and we also have no idea what the hell she is because when you're bitten you're meant to turn or die and, thankfully, she did neither."

"I don't know. Just be there for her, I guess. We haven't had much free time since Christmas, and I feel like we've been kinda shitty friends recently."

"Yeah, I get that feeling too," Allison admitted. She looked down for a moment then looked back up with a soft smile tugging at the edge of her lips. "I hear that you've been busy with Stiles."

"Oh. Uh, yeah, you heard right." This was getting more awkward by the second. "We're dating now."

"We, uh, Scott and I, always knew you two would get together," Allison told her. "And for what it's worth, I'm sorry about the Lydia and Stiles going to the Formal together."

"It's...whatever, Allison, really," Skyler shook her head. "What's past is prologue, right?"

"The Tempest?" Allison grinned at her, a real smile. "Looks like all our studying paid off."

"Yeah, for English maybe, but I'm still failing pretty much everything else," Sky said with a laugh.

"Tell me about it." Allison rolled her eyes in response. "Mr Shaw keeps threatening to call my parents if I don't keep my grades up, but there's just so much to do and... Well, you know what it's like."

"Yeah..." Sky trailed off uncomfortably. They were being civil, but there was still a very palpable tension between them. "Anyway, the Lydia thing. You free tonight, before the game? It starts at half eight, and I was thinking we could head over to Lydia's for seven, have about an hour with her, then go to the game. What d'you think?"

"Sounds good." She nodded in agreement to Sky's idea and turned back to whatever textbook she had been reading before Sky interrupted her. "Talk to you later."

"Okay then."

Skyler made her way back into school just as the bell rang and decided that it wasn't worth finding the boys. She could just call them later and let them know that Allison was on board with the plan. The halls were filling up quickly and she had to shove her way through the hoards of her irritating classmates to get to Biology on time. Lydia was already perched on the edge of her stool, eyes wide and glazed. Skyler wriggled around the tables to make her way to her seat.

"Hey, Lydie," Sky called, dropping onto her seat. "Lyds? Jesus, Lydia, are you high?"

"Mmm?" Lydia turned to face her slowly and Skyler was shocked at the massive bags under Lydia's normally bright hazel eyes.

"Are you okay?"

"Just thinking," she replied, tapping her still gloved hand off the desk with alarming speed. "Do you know a guy in our school, floppy brown hair, blue eyes, pouty mouth, rude?"

"Uh, no, Lydia," Skyler said, furrowing her brows. "That could describe loads of guys in the school, and you've been here longer than me. You'd be more likely to know him. Why, who is this guy?"

"No one important," Lydia sniffed. "I just bumped into him in the corridor. I should know everyone in this school. It doesn't matter."

"Well how was your session with Morrell then?" Skyler chanced a quick glance across at her friend. It was obviously not a topic Lydia wanted to discuss, but it was important.

"Well, she gave me her qualifications, asked why I was there and then told me to be careful of my friends," Lydia listed, counting them off on her fingers. "It was all in all unhelpful and a massive waste of time."

"Did you tell her that?"

"I implied it."

"You have to actually cooperate with people that are trying to help you, Lyds," Skyler told her, trying her hardest not to sound preachy. "If you keep fighting her on this, you're not gonna get anywhere."

"I don't need anyone to help me," she snapped back, pursing her lips. "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

"I didn't mean it like that," Sky told her quietly. They still had a few minutes before class started but there was still several people in the room, so they had to keep their voices down. "There's nothing wrong with needing a small bit of help."

"But I don't need any help," Lydia insisted.

"Lydia, you do!" Sky looked around, embarrassed at the amount of people who were staring over at her. She hadn't even realised how loud her voice had grown. "Shit, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shout." She reached out and held Lydia's hand, something she would never think of doing with most other people. "But seriously, Lyds, you were attacked by a psychopath. I would be more worried if you didn't need to talk to someone about it."

"I'm handling it fine, and if I did need to speak to someone it wouldn't be some half qualifed French teacher parading as a therapist." Lydia rolled her eyes at Skyler's worried look. "Also, you got stabbed by Kate too, and I don't see you being pushed into talking about your feelings."

It was mainly because Skyler was completely aware of what had happened and why, and that it wasn't really Kate that had attacked her friend. There was nothing she needed to work through because she understood exactly what she had gone through and why. "That's because I've talked to Rebecca and Stiles." That was a complete lie. "I'm working through this in my own way, but I know you Lyds. If someone didn't push you into talking about it then you'd keep it bottled up until your inevitable mental breakdown."

"Why does everything have to result in an inevitable mental breakdown with you?" Lydia looked at her tiredly.

"Allison and I are coming over to yours tonight and we're gonna talk," Sky informed her. "And we're gonna talk properly. We're more qualified than Morrell at least."

"And what makes you more qualified than Morrell?" Lydia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I was stabbed by the same person that attacked you and that same person was Allison's aunt." Skyler tapped the cover of her Biology book, frowning. Why couldn't Lydia just accept her help? Okay, so Sky would act in the exact same way, but she was a hypocrite and would get annoyed when people acted like her. "We're the best people to talk to about this."

"And if I don't want to?" Lydia pushed.

"Well then you don't have a choice," Sky said firmly. "We're going to have a lovely, deep, meaningful conversation then go to the game, whether you like it or not."

Lydia was facing the front of the room as their teacher started to unpack her lab equipment , watching Skyler out of the corner of her eye. "If you're going to be invading my house with Allison then at least let me do your hair," she reasoned. "It's basically a constant mess."

"Deal." Sky jumped on the bargain before Lydia could change her mind. She settled back into her seat, satisfied with Lydia's agreement.

The rest of her classes passed by in the usual manner, no supernatural or Stiles based interruptions. Her final class was English Lit, which was a nice way to finish out a hectic day. She would've been looking forward to the game if she was actually going to see it, lacrosse had become her new favourite sport in the few months that she had been in Beacon Hills. At least she had time to relax at home and hang out with Lydia before breaking into their principal's office.

Sky found Scott and Stiles leaning against the lockers by Scott's, running through the details of the plan one more time. She let them know that Allison had agreed to take the keys from Gerard, promising to meet them before the game, and departed, making her way to her own locker to gather the books she needed for that night's homework. The corridor's were nearly empty by the time that Skyler arrived at her car. She had about four hours before she had to be at Lydia's house, plenty of time for homework, food, maybe some TV, and last minute panicking over what they were about to do. She had to park on the sidewalk when she reached her house, becuase, strangely, both Rebecca and Nick's cars were in the driveway. She sensed an ambush.

"Hello?" Sky called out, opening the front door cautiously. "Anyone home?"

"We're in here." That was her father's voice anyway. "Come on in, please."

Skyler stood still for a full minute before working up the courage to enter the living room. Nick was standing by the television, facing the sofa and the door, Rebecca sat in the armchair to his left. Sky narrowed her eyes and looked between the two of them.

"Is everything okay?" It obviously wasn't okay.

"Sit down," Nick barked at her.

"We just wanna talk," Rebecca piped up, seeing Sky visibly jump at the sharp tone of Nick's voice. "We just wanna talk to you." She half rose out of her seat, holding out a hand to Skyler as a means of a peace offering. "Just, sit."

Sky edged around the couch, and settled right in the middle, directly in front of Nick. He was glaring at her in what she remembered as his Disciplining Look. It was a real struggle for her not to childishly ask, 'Am I in trouble?' She definitely was. She couldn't even recall the last time she had been called in like this and sat down for a scolding, her mother had never used this tactic, and since she had moved to Beacon Hills, Sky had done an exceptional job at avoiding her father. "So, what's going on?"

"We have given you a lot of freedom since you've been here," Nick said, puffing his chest out and trying to look authoritative. "Because we trust you, and we thought that you deserved some freedom." He paused, staring straight at Skyler.

"Uh, okay?" She wasn't sure what to say.

"But a condition of that freedom was that you behave like a responsible adult." Skyler didn't remember any conditions of her so-called freedom. It seemed more that Nick just couldn't be bothered to set any rules for her. "And recently we have noticed you abusing that freedom."

"What do you mean?" Skyler asked. Nick hadn't even been in town to witness her recent behaviour.

"Well, Rebecca had told me that-" Skyler shot a quick look across at Rebecca who shrank back in seat, looking apologetic. "-there have been several times when she's had to pick you up in the middle of the night. Once, you were hanging around in the woods, on your own, at midnight!"

"Uh, that was, yeah, um, right, yes, that was a mistake," she tried to claw her way out of that, or think of a reasonable explanation. She didn't think that 'I just found out that two of my new friends are werewolves and it totally freaked me out and I ran off into the woods on my own like an idiot' would fly.

"Well it should never have happened in the first place," Nick snapped at her. He ran his hands through his hair, a trait that had been passed on to Skyler, and sighed loudly. "Becky's also told me that when she's not picking you up, you still tend to stay out until all hours, whether or not you have school the next day, and twice now, twice, Skyler, you have stayed over at that Stilinski boy's house with no warning."

"Nick, I'm nearly seventeen years old, I can stay at my friend's house if I want," Skyler argued back, not sure where this was going. "And it's not like I can't drive myself home if I need to."

"You are still a child, and there was a murderer loose in the town. Speaking of murderers-" Nick was beginning to pace back and forth in front of her. "-I hear that you've been involved with Derek Hale. Derek Hale, a man who was accused of the murder of, what, six, seven people? Including his sister-"

"He was exonerated," she grumbled, crossing her arms defiantly.

"That doesn't matter!" Nick's voice rose suddenly. "I've been gone a few days and you're staying out all night, doing God knows what with that boy, and hanging around murder suspects!"

"A few fucking days?!" Skyler stared in disbelief at her father. "Since I got here, you've been present for a week at most. Other than that it was just drop-in and drop back out again." Rebecca had her head turned away from them, rubbing her hands over her face. "So, I don't think that you get to try and discipline me, or parent me in any way!"

Nick pursed his lips and speed up his pacing, nearly wearing a hole in the floor. "Do not speak to me in that way. I am trying my best, but Lord knows you are not an easy child to deal with." He shook his head roughly. "And the other day we get a call that you, after several days of leaving early in the morning and returning late at night, or not returning at all, from the school saying that you cut class. A teacher saw you driving out of the parking lot after your lunch break. You didn't return to school that day, and no one saw you until that night at A CRIME SCENE!"

"Shit," Skyler breathed out, dropping her face into her hands. She was so sure that she had got away scot free when she had gone to see Derek.

"A crime scene, Skyler," Nick's voice was notably calmer, but his chest was heaving with deep, heavy breaths. "What the hell?"

"I was picking up my boyfriend," Sky said after a few moments of thought.

"Your boyfriend?" Nick's head snapped up and Rebecca's eyebrows raised a fraction. "The Stilinski boy?"

"Stop calling him that," Sky snapped at him. "His name is Stiles."

"And you still think that it's okay to stay over at his house?"

"It doesn't bother the Sheriff," Sky told him.

"Well I guess his standars for parenting just aren't as high as mine," Nick told her loftily. "And anyway, that's not the point. The point is that you have been acting like there are no rules, no boundries for you."

"There were...extenuating circumstances," Skyler insisted, continuing as she saw Nick open her mouth. "That are not my business to discuss."

"You have to see that this behaviour can't stand," Nick said frostily. "So, no leaving this house, no one in this house. Especially not Stilinski. You're grounded."

"I'm fucking what?!" Skyler screamed, shooting to her feet. She could not be grounded, she just could not. "No way."

"Yes," he replied angrily. "Until further notice."

"Starting tomorrow?" She asked hopefully.

"Starting now."

"Becca, please," Skyler pleaded, looking over at the woman. "Come on."

Rebecca looked down almost shamefully. "Look, Skyler, you have been out a lot lately and your grades are suffering for it. The school has been in contact more than once about test scores and being late to class," Becca admitted as she bit down on her bottom lip. "Now I'm not blaming Stiles or Lydia or Scott or Zach becuase I know that they are all great kids, but maybe this is for the best."

"You can't be serious, you can't take his side on this." Sky stared at her with wide, disbelieving eyes. "The game's on tonight," she reasoned weakly. "I need to go to the game. And Lydia. Lydia's expecting us."

"Sweetie, if this is about what happened with that Argent woman-"

"Oh, don't be ridiculous!" Skyler snapped. "That's not it. So what, I came home late some nights and I stayed over at Stiles'. I'm a teenager, we do those things. Now, please, just let me go to the game, go to Lydia's."

"And I have said no, and that is final," Nick cut across her, even though Skyler was speaking directly to Rebecca. "Get to your room. And don't even think about trying to sneak out, or I will not be this lenient."

"Fuck you," she spat. "Fuck you for never being there for me unless it was convenient for you, just so you could pretend like you'd actually done something for me, so that you didn't feel like such an utter failure as a father." Skyler shoved past him, ignoring Rebecca's worried calls from behind her. She threw herself up the stairs and into her room, slamming the door as hard as she could behind her. Sky was tempted to open the door and slam it again just for emphasis. This really couldn't be fucking happening tonight. She nearly tore the pocket right out of her sweater, trying to find her phone. Stiles answered on the first ring.

"Sky, hey, what's up?" He sounded as relaxed as anyone could be in this situation.

"I can't make it tonight," she told him. Her voice was short and clipped and almost shaking with rage. "I won't be there."

"Wait. What? Why? Why won't you be there?" He demanded, sounding even more agitated than he was originally. "You're my lookout!"

"Nick grounded me! Apparently the school's been in contact with him and Rebecca 'cause of my grades and skipping class the other day," Skyler explained. The sun was casting long shadows through her open window and she moved across the room to peer outside, hoping that inspiration would strike and she would suddenly figure an excellent way out of this mess. "He's finally decided to parent and it's now."

"Shit. Shit. Shit." The sound of Stiles pacing was evident, even through the phone. "I mean, it could work without you, but it would be more dangerous and if I get caught, then there's no explanation for me being there, and-"

"You're not making me feel like a valued member of the Scooby gang right now, Stiles," she said, moving back towards her bed and dropping her school bag on the ground and flopping onto her bed on her back. "And why would it be okay for us to be in the principal's office if I was there with you?"

"We could pretend that we were just looking for a place to, y'know, make out," he replied, a blush clear in his tone.

"What an A plus plan you've got there, Stilinski," Sky told him. "Too bad I won't be around to help with it."

"Are you sure that there's nothing you can do?" He asked, sounding agonised.

"Nick seems pretty damn furious." Voices started up downstairs, quiet and indiscernible. "I'm not sure would it be worth it to risk it. Apparently, he won't be so lenient next time. Dick."

"Skyler. Maybe it's better that you're safe at home rather than here with Derek and his psycho pack on the loose and let's not forget the hunters," Stiles pointed out.

"It just means that you're going to be doing it on your own, and I'm not okay with that," Sky said softly, running a hand down her face. "Just call me once you get the keys, okay? And then I'll stay on the phone until you're safely back at the match. That way, if you hang up or get in any trouble, I can call Scott or Allison. Promise you'll call me, alright?"

"What, like you called me when you were at Derek's?" He asked sarcastically.

"Stiles!"

"Alright, alright, I promise," he reassured her. "I will call you."

"I gotta make another call now, I'll talk to you later," Skyler told him, starting to kick off her shoes. "Bye, Stiles."

"Be safe," he warned her. "I'll call you later."

Skyler was the first to end the call and went straight into her contact list, scrolling through to find Lydia and call her. It rang for nearly half a minute before the girl picked up, sounding skittish.

"Skyler."

"Yeah, hey, Lyds," she started off, trying to keep her voice light and chirpy. The voices downstairs were starting to raise in pitch and she could at least distinguish between Rebecca and Nick now. "Look, I'm really sorry, I'm really fucking sorry, but I'm not gonna be able to come over tonight. Nick freaked out and he grounded me, and I would ask you to come over, I swear, but he said no one in the house and, Lydia, I-"

"It's fine." It was not fine. She sounded despondent, even the nerves gone from her voice, she was just flat now. "I don't care. I thought it was a stupid idea anyway."

"It wasn't a stupid idea," Skyler protested sharply. "And we are gonna talk just not tonight. I mean, Nick's probably gonna be gone soon and then I can talk to Rebecca, she'd be way more easy to reason with." There was a bang from downstairs and Nick's voice rose to a shout, Rebecca's voice matching his moments later.

"It doesn't matter, we have plenty of time for you to dump all your problems on me and for me to dump mine on you," Lydia said absentmindedly. "I simply can't wait."

"You still have someone to dump all your problems on tonight," Skyler reminded her. It was an uphill battle to ignore the guilt inside her. "Allison's coming over."

"Mmm," came the noncommittal reply. Skyler didn't like when Lydia acted this way. It worried her.

"I have an abundance of free time now. We can talk now, about anything. Food, movies, lacrosse, cute guys in lacrosse shorts."

"I have a lot of homework, and then the match, so..." Lydia trailed off. "I don't really wanna talk right now."

"Oh, if you're busy, that's fine," Sky said, taken aback. "We just haven't talked in a while and-"

"I have to go."

Skyler stared at the phone in her hand for several minutes after Lydia ended the call. Okay, so Lydia was a total bitch and brushed people off, but never Skyler. It only made the guilty feeling grow. She pressed a pillow over her face and let out a low groaning noise, trying to clear her head and block out the sounds of arguing from downstairs. This was the most horribly inopportune moment to get grounded. Maybe she did need to start concentrating more on her school work, but there was so many more important things in her life right now other than Harris' pop quizzes. She unlocked her phone again, getting sick of having to call people, and went searching for Allison.

"Skyler?" She answered in disbelief.

"Yeah, it's me," Sky said. "I'm not looking for a chat or anything, I just need to tell you something."

"Can you, uh, make it quick?" Allison sounded distracted. "I've got something to do."

"Uh, yeah, yeah. It's important though, so maybe it would be better if you were alone," Skyler tried to make it as obvious as possible that she meant for Allison to just move away from her parents.

"It's alright," she reassured Sky. "I'm in my room."

"Okay, so my dad turned up and some things have been happening that I got grounded for," Skyler explained quickly. "I'm not gonna be able to get to the game tonight, so you need to get the keys to Stiles. It HAS to be Stiles, so you have to sit at the edge of the bleachers somewhere that you can reach him."

"Alright, I got it," Allison said quietly.

"And 'cause I'm grounded, I'm not gonna be able to make Lydia's tonight. I know it's kinda unfair to leave it to you but just try and get her to talk and call me if you need anything." She was having to raise her voice to hear herself over the yelling. It was starting to remind her of when she was a kid and her mom and dad would fight so she would crawl under the covers with her favourite teddies and play imaginary games for hours to distract herself. Skyler was feeling an overwhelming urge to crawl under the covers and lose herself in her imagination now, but she was sixteen, not four anymore.

"You have to go to Lydia's!" Allison hissed.

"I can't," Skyler snapped back, surprised as her tone. "I called her a few minutes ago and told her I couldn't."

"Well I can't either."

"What?! Why the fuck not?!" Skyler was on the verge of screaming down the phone.

"Because I have a thing tonight with my dad, I can't get out of it," Allison responded. Her voice was strained with the effort of not shouting at Skyler. "I've already called Lydia to tell her I couldn't be there."

"God, no wonder she was so weird on the phone." Sky sighed. "What have you got with your dad?"

"Training thing, he's teaching me how to be... Y'know. Like him," Allison admitted.

"A hunter," Skyler replied, voice cold. "Well. Shit. We're terrible friends."

"Yeah, I think we've established that," Allison huffed. "But we're gonna do it soon, we have to. If we were in this situation, Lydia would do it for us. And I'll talk to her at the game if I can."

"Alright, well that was all I had to say." Skyler wished that this conversation would end as abruptly and succinctly as the conversation with Lydia had ended. It was getting awkward. "Guess I'll see you tomorrow. And, uh, be safe."

"Oh, okay. Thanks," Allison replied. "Bye then."

And the call was over. Skyler had nothing left to do now, she was finished the important calls that she had to make and now she was alone with her thoughts and her irritation. Why did Nick have to pick such an important night? Any other night and she would've accepted her punishment with grace. Actually no, that was bullshit. She would've been mad if she had been grounded anytime, it was just that ths was a worse night than most. And she could still hear Nick and Rebecca yelling. It was slowly going to drive her insane.

She rolled off her bed and picked up her school bag, emptying the contents onto the bed. School work would be an adequate distraction for now. Sky scooped up her headphones from the desk and slipped back onto her bed, sitting cross legged. She connected her headphones to her phone and put her music on shuffle, trying to relax to the soothing noise of her study playlist. But even that couldn't help. She couldn't look at a page of any of her books or notes for more than a few seconds without feeling like she was going to throw up.

Skyler gave up after an admittedly pathetic half an hour of trying to get something done. She slumped back against her pillows, resting on her headboard. Physics was giving her a migraine. Pulling out her headphones, she shook her hair loose and sighed at the sound of Becca and Nick still arguing. As much as it did annoy her, she also felt guilty. She hadn't meant to cause trouble for Rebecca, she had been good to Skyler since she had arrived here and she should've known that blowing up at Nick would've riled him and that he would take it out on Becca. She strained her ears to catch even a word but it was all just noise.

After a few minutes of shouting and screaming there was a shockingly loud bang that sounded like the front door. Sky wriggled off her bed and ran to her bedroom door, easing it open and sticking her head out. Once she saw that that coast was clear, she darted to the window at the end of the landing, pressing her face against the glass. Rebecca was climbing into her Jeep, slamming the car door behind her and dropping her forehead to rest on the wheel for a minute. It looked like she was crying. The guilty feeling in Sky's stomach was becoming more and more familiar. She heard Nick moving in the hallway downstairs just as Rebecca started the car. She spun on her heel and sprinted quietly back to her room. She hadn't been told not to leave her room, but she was in no mood to speak to Nick. She flung herself back on her bed and settles inbetween the books. The footsteps paced downstairs for a few minutes before making their way up the stairs and stopping in front of her door. There was a few seconds of silence before Nick rapped sharply on the door. Instead of replying that she didn't feel like talking, like a normal human would've done, she did the most childish thing she could think of and hurled her poetry book at the door. It collided with an almighty thud and Nick audibly jumped back in shock. He didn't try to speak with her again and she was perfectly content to wallow in her misery for the next few hours.

She was still lying in the same position at nine o'clock when Stiles called her back.

"Stiles, are you alright?!" She demanded, almost before she had fully answered the call.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he told her. He was running anyway, his breaths were heaving and he sounded like he was about to pass out. "You asked me to ring you when I left the game."

"Did you get the keys okay?" She asked, sitting up straight for the first time in hours. "Does Gerard suspect anything?"

"Yes, and I don't think so." He let out a large huff as he answered. "He gave Allison his coat and she slipped the keys out of his pocket and passed them to me. Went off without a hitch. I'm just heading into his office now. Hold on." There were a few seconds where all she could hear was the jingling of keys and Stiles swearing softly. "Right. I'm in."

"Okay," Skyler said, swinging her legs over the side of her bed to plant her feet flat on the floor. "Check the drawers first. Then the shelves." She could hear Stiles moving around the office and shuffling papers while repeating the word 'book' to himself over and over.

"Nothing in the drawers," he told her agitatedly.

"Just try the shelves now, Stiles," she said soothingly. "It'll be there. You'll find it."

"Okay, alright. Shelves. Why are there so many shelves?" Stiles asked aloud.

"Becuase all great heroes need obstacles to overcome on their path to heroness," she explained.

"How do you always know exactly what to say?"

"Becuase you're a nerd and I'm a nerd too, so I know what nerd's like." She pushed herself up from the bed and wandered to the window, resting against the cold glass.

"You're just weird," he muttered. There was a shuffling and clinking on the other end as if he was moving paper weights and books. He continued to mutter to himself for a few minutes while searching before swearing loudly. "Nothing here."

"Just keep looking," she advised him. "You've got about an hour before the game ends and this is the only chance we're gonna get. Help us, Stiles-Wan Kenobi, you're our only hope."

"I adore you," he said, slightly in awe. "Okay. There are only a few more places that he could hide something that size so- My g..."

The sudden stop made Skyler's senses fly into overdrive. If Gerard found him in the office, what would he do? He had cut a werewolf in half in the forest but surely he wouldn't hurt a human. Kate had, but maybe her father was marginally more mentally stable. "Stiles? Stiles, what happened?"

"Uh, nothing. I thought I saw someone, but it was just a shadow," Stiles' voice was weak and strained. He was obviously lying. "I'm fine anyway, no one's coming so maybe I should concentrate on searching."

"Don't bullshit me," she insisted. Skyler was worried now. What situation would Stiles be in that would make it necessary for him to lie to her? "I watch Survivor, I can tell when people are lying, and you're lying now."

"I'll call you if anything happens, okay?" He sounded distant and distracted. "It's just easier for me to look without being on the phone."

"Uh, alright," Skyler relented. "But tomorrow, you're gonna tell me the actual reason that you lied."

"Bye."

The call ended just as her call with Lydia had ended and it pissed her off. She was stuck at home with nothing to do while her friends were risking their asses looking for the bestiary. She returned to her bed, knocking the books off her bed until it was completely clear. She dropped onto the bed and curled up in the foetal position, nuzzling her head into the pillow.

She considered calling Derek. If anyone other than Gerard was likely to have a bestiary then it would be him. Skyler spun her phone in her fingers a few times before she decided that she had nothing to lose by calling him. Derek, of course, didn't pick up. It wasn't clear which side Derek was on, if there even were sides. The way Skyler saw it right now, it was Sky, Stiles and Scott versus the Argents versus the lizard thing. Allison was sitting between them and the Argents, mind not yet made up. Derek was evidently not going be on the side of the Argents or the lizard, but he also wasn't on her side. It was disconcerting, to say the least.

She spent the next hour tapping her foot against the post of her bed, Googling 'lizard creatures' and 'were-lizards', unfortunately to no avail. The closest she got was a picture of a Komodo dragon with a human head cropped on. The game had long since ended when Sky decided to get into her pyjamas. She had only just pulled on the flannel pants and white t-shirt when her phone started to ring again. She padded over to her bed and let out a relieved breath when she saw that it was Stiles.

"Hey, did you get the book?" She asked, answering the call.

"Skyler!" Stiles' voice was panicked and desperate and she could hear what sounded like splashing.

"What is it? What's wrong?" There was bile rising in her throat. She had known that something was wrong when he had hung up on her earlier, and now she was kicking herself for not doing something earlier, going to help him or calling Scott or Allison to help.

"We're trapped in the pool," he shouted down the phone. "The lizard thing is here. Please help. Please. And call Scott." The call ended abruptly, just like their earlier conversation, and it was even more terrifying this time. She had to help.


	8. Pool Party

_**Enjoy and review X**_

Skyler dropped to the floor, tucking her phone into her bra, and shoved a hand under her bed, reaching for her Converse. Grounding or not, she was not leaving Stiles on his own. He had said 'we're trapped' though, so there had to be someone with him. But if it wasn't Scott, then who? She pulled on the shoes without bothering to tie the laces. Her bag was lying open on the floor and she rooted through it feverishly, looking for her car keys. If she just found them then she could climb out the window. It took a few seconds to locate them and each moment that passed panicked Sky more and more.

She didn't bother with a jumper as she swung a leg over the window sill and slipped out onto the roof of the porch. She lay on her front and slid downwards until her toes met the porch railing, fingers gripping the guttering. She took a deep breath and let herself jump backwards, landing crouchedin a flower bed. Nick's bedroom light was on and she could hear the TV playing softly. She kept low to the ground and made her way around the side of the house to the sidewalk and unlocked the car as quietly as possible. She was pretty sure that Nick would find out that she had left the house but Stiles' safety was a hell of a lot more important, so she made no effort to quieten the rumble of her car as the engine roared to life.

Once she was on the road, Sky started to fish in her bra for her phone. She unlocked it with a shaking hand. Stiles had wanted her to call Scott which meant that Scott had left the school and he was unavailable to contact. She laid the phone on the passenger seat and placed it on speaker. He didn't pick up on the first call, the second, third, or fourth. She was nearly at the school and Scott still hadn't answered. If the lizard thing didn't kill Scott first, then she would.

Skyler pulled into the parking lot at the front of the deserted school and called him one more time. There was no answer but she left a message, it was a quick summary of the situation and a small cry for help with added swearing. She tumbled out of the car and kicked the door behind her, already running before she heard it shut. Skyler hopped up the steps and shoved through the door. The dark corridor brought back sudden memories of running from Peter, which was, undoubtedly, the most petrifying night of her life.

The swimming pool was on the second floor of the building and it was a long and scary run while she was alone in the dark. Skyler paused outside the doors to the pool, pressing her ear against the doors, trying to listen for any sound. There was a faint splashing and a groaning, followed by Stiles' sharp voice. Skyler burst into the room as she heard proof that her boyfriend was alive and well and stopped dead in confusion.

Stiles' phone was lying at the side of the pool, a new and relatively small crack visible on the screen. Stiles was treading water in the middle of the pool, which Sky knew was too deep for Stiles to stand in, with an arm around Derek. Stiles was in his bright red training tracksuit and Derek was clad in his usual henley shirt and jeans. Derek looked strangely limp and wasn't even hanging off of Stiles he was just slumped against him.

"What the hell is going on?" She demanded, kneeling at the edge of the pool and feeling slightly annoyed that water was soaking through her flannel pants.

"Lizard thing," Stiles panted out, head bobbing up and down, water pouring into his mouth. "It scratched...Derek. He...can't move. I've been holding him up for an hour and a half. Need help."

"Where is it? The lizard thing."

"Haven't seen it in a while," he told her. "It won't come in the pool. We think it's scared of water."

"Stay there, okay," Skyler instructed them, pushing back to her feet. "It might be gone. I'm coming to get you guys."

"Be careful," Stiles warned her. His wide brown eyes were darting around the room. Skyler nodded at him, toeing her shoes off and standing barefoot in the small puddles at the edge of the diving pool.

"Can you get Derek closer to the edge?" She pulled her phone out and slipped it into her shoe. "Then I can get in and push him out, or pull or something."

"Yeah, I can, just give me a..." Stiles trailed off, staring over her shoulder in horror. "Skyler. Get in the pool. Get in the pool. Now."

She spun around to face the bleachers, stomach clenching in fear. It was the first time that she had seen the lizard creature and it was worse than she could've imagined. Its head was perfectly round and covered in slimey green scales. The eyes were like a sake, black slit pupils and yellow irises, and its nose was almost completely flat with nostrils shaped like an open wound. It moved in the same manner as a human on all fours but in a way it was an unhuman movement. It had a long tail that whipped out behind it as the thing climbed slowly down the bleacher seats, white claws dripping goo as it went. The most unnatural thing about the creature was they it made direct eye contact with her, head cocking to the side. Sky was reminded of what Stiles said about the creature seeming to know him. It was unnerving.

"Get in the pool now!" This time it was Derek shouting at her.

It was like she had been turned to stone. Skyler could not move. All she could do was stare at the creature in front of her and try not to scream. She wasn't sure whether or not this thing was scarier than Peter. At least she knew that Peter had a somewhat human side, she was still unconvinced that this thing has another side. It stopped once it reached the bottom of the bleachers and stayed crouched on all floors, staring Skyler down, only three or four feet between them. She watched it just as intently as it was watching her, and she could see that it was on its haunches, preparing to strike. She had about a half a second until it struck but that was all she needed.

Skyler stepped backwards as the creature lunged, flailing at the feeling of nothing underneath her as she fell into the pool, back slamming painfully against the surface of the water. She shut her eyes tight as her head slid under water and she gave herself a moment of floating beforefighting her way up to the top. Stiles and Derek were staring wide-eyed at her as she emerged, hair plastered to her head.

"What the hell was that?!" Stiles yelled. "I told you to get into the pool! Don't wait until you nearly get eaten to jump in the pool!"

"Well I didn't get eaten, did I?" She responded, still keeping an eye on the lizard thing that was hissing at them from the edge of the pool. She smoothed the hair out of her face and swam slowly across to the two boys, sliding an arm around Derek from the other side.

"Holy shit, man," Skyler groaned as Stiles let some of Derek's considerable weight rest on her. "Lose some damn weight."

"Shut up," he grumbled childishly. "And hold me up."

"Answer your phone when I call you then," Skyler snapped at him.

"I was in the pool and paralyzed." He glared at her as best he could without turning his body towards her. "So excuse me that I couldn't stop and have a chat."

"I was just gonna ask if you have a bestiary, jerk." Skyler wished that they were on dry land so that she could kick him. "Stiles, did you get it?"

"I couldn't find it," he admitted it. She glanced across at him, worried that Stiles was about to drop. Her shoulder was already hurting after two minutes, but Stiles had been here on his own for ninety minutes. "I was on the phone to you and-" Stiles glanced at Derek. "-he sent Erica after me. It's why I hung up."

"Did she hurt you?" Skyler demanded, then turned to Derek. "Did she hurt him?" The older man made a noncommittal noise and Skyler let her hand fall slack for a second, dipping Derek's head under water for a second before dragging him back up. "Did she hurt him?" She repeated.

"No," he spluttered, spitting water out of his mouth and glaring at her. "I told her not to."

"Why did he want to talk to you anyway?" She asked around Derek.

"He wanted to ask me what that thing looked like," Stiles explained. They all looked towards the edge of the pool where the creature was crawling lazily around the perimeter, dipping a claw into the water every so often before retracting its arm as if it had been burned. "Then it showed up, kicked the crap out of Erica, scratched Derek and he decided to fall into the pool so I had to go in after him-"

"I didn't decide to fall in," Derek interrupted from between them.

"-and when I had a chance I called you," he finished, ignoring the werewolf.

"I called Scott a good few times but he didn't pick up," Skyler told him. "D'you know where he is?"

"No. The game finished ages ago and he was meant to check in with me afterwards but he didn't," Stiles said worriedly. "And we were meant to get the keys back to Gerard. If he saw me leave the game then he'll know that I have them." Stiles was starting to panic, his movements getting jerkier.

"Relax, Stiles," Skyler soothed him, "He's an old man, what's the worst he can do?" He could do some pretty terrible things from what she had heard but Stiles needed reassurance right now.

"He cut an Omega in half with a broad sword," Derek reminded them. "Do you know the strength that takes?"

Skyler shook her head at him in disbelief as Stiles took a terrified shaky breath. They lapsed into silence, all too exhausted or focussed to make conversation. Stiles was concentrating on keeping them above water, Derek was trying to hold himself up as much as possible and Sky was watching the creature intently.

It had disappeared into the shadows shortly after Sky had fallen into the pool and it had nearly an hour since they had last caught sight of the creature. Sky's strength was starting to wane and she was slipping under the surface of the water every few minutes, usually taking Derek with her, and each time it was getting harder to struggle back up. Stiles was still fairly steady, and he had been doing this for ninety minutes longer than Skyler. No matter what Finstock, Jackson or the rest of the lacrosse team said, Stiles was fit and strong and seriously determined.

"Stiles, I don't think I can do this for much longer," Sky admitted after slipping under water for the third time in as many minutes. "I can't keep holding him up. We gotta get outta here, we gotta get help."

"Okay. Okay. Okay." Stiles glanced around sharply. "Alright. What we're gonna do is swim over to the diving board. You get out, run, get to your car, get help. Find Scott and send him here then go home. I can hold Derek on my own." His arms were trembling as he spoke.

"No. No way am I leaving you here on your own again," she insisted. "If we can hold him up, we can drag him to the car. The thing might be gone so now is our best chance of getting out."

"You have a better chance of getting out if you're on your own," Stiles argued. "So go now."

"And I've already said no," she replied firmly. "We all go, or none of us do."

She could see the spark in Stiles' eye that meant he wanted to keep arguing his point, but after a few seconds he decided that it was futile and nodded once. If Derek hadn't been there then Skyler would've wrapped her arms around Stiles and shoved him just how much she adored him. He was willing to stay there, with the risk of drowing or being eaten by an unknown lizard thing so that she could have a better chance of escape. He was really one of a kind.

Skyler startes to kick her legs, working the feeling back into them, and dragged herself forward with her free arm. Stiles mirrored her movements on the other side, hauling Derek between them to the diving board. They held a hurried discussion in which they agreed that Sky would go first and pull Derek up as Stiles pushed from below before following them out. Then they would run.

Stiles counted her down from five and when they reached one she released Derek, dropping his full weight back onto Stiles. She found purchase on the rim of the pool and dragged herself upwards, taking a few attempts to wrap her fingers around the handle securely. Once she was steady, Sky reached down and graped Derek's shirt, relieving Stiles of some of the weight. Her eyes flickered back up and were immediately met by the amber eyes of the creature. She shrieked in surprise as Derek yelled and Stiles shouted at her to get back. She let her hand slide down the handle as the thing swiped at her fingers with its dripping claws.

She tried to tighten her hand around the metal bar again as she slid downwards but Derek's body weight dragged her down further and she released the handle as her wrist came in contact with the edge of the pool. She scrabbled for a handhold as the water closed in over her head, but she was too drained and short to reach the side. She could feel Derek next to her, her fingers still twisted in his shirt and trie to pull them up, she simply did not have the strength or energy. Her pants and shirt billowed out around her, giving her an almost comforting feeling of floating, and she hoped futilely that Stiles had managed to get out.

Derek's shoulder twitched under hand, and she wished that she had been on dry land so that she could kick him. Trust Derek to regain movement just a minute too late. It was nearing a full minute since they had drifted under water and Sky's lungs were starting to burn. Whoever had said that drowning was peaceful was full of shit. Still, she would rather drown than be eaten by a strange unknown reptile thing.

She didn't want to die like this. She didn't want that to be the last time she spoke to Nick and Rebecca. She didn't want that to be the last time she drove her car. She didn't want Lydia to feel like she was a shit friend. She didn't want to be at odds with Derek. She hadn't even been able to say goodbye to Stiles.

Her natural reflexes kicked in an Skyler breathed in as deeply as she could just as Derek was ripped from her grasp. Water flooding into her lungs was a horrifying feeling and she didn't know where Derek had gone. She was going to die alone and in pain. She wallowed in her thoughts of death for a few seconds before a hand gripped her by the wrist and dragged her up through the water an out into the air.

Her back hit the poolside tiles painfully but it knocked most of the water out of her. She tried feebly to push herself into a seated position, coughing harshly. Two hands on her back helped to prop her up and a familiar worried voice appeared in her ear. She cracked her eyes open, blinking against the chlorine, and seeing Stiles face hovering in front of her. Derek was lying beside them, twitching and spasming as the paralysis wore off. Their saviour, Scott, crouched by the bleachers, facing down the creature and snarling.

"Sky, are you okay?" Stiles asked, placing his hands either side of her face and turning it towards him. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Yes. I'm fine," she told him inbetween spitting up water and coughing. "Are you?"

Behind them, the creature had sprung at Scott, letting out a hissing shriek. The werewolf responded with a vicious swipe that was easily dodged. Stiles wrapped his arms around Skyler and rested his chin on her head, shielding her from the two supernatural creatures. The fact that he was soaking wet did not help her to warm up or stop shaking but it was immeasurably comforting. She glanced up at the sound of a pained roar and saw Scott getting his ass handed to him. What the hell was this thing that it could get the upper hand on a werewolf? Scott braced himself for another attack, placing himself between the thing and his friends. Just as it lunged, Scott scooped up a shard of broken mirror and held it out as a weapon. The creature paused mid-attack, peering at the reflection in the glass, head tilting to the side. There were several longs moments of utter stillness before it turned tail and ran, scaling the bleachers and jumping to the veiwing balcony before vanishing into the dark.

"You guys okay?" Scott turned around to them, letting the glass fall from his hand.

None of them replied. Skyler slumped against Stiles, tucking her body into his and gripping whichever part of him she could reach. Scott gave them a minutes privacy as Stiles began to shower kisses on her forehead and hair, instead going to help Derek shakily to his feet. Scott pulled the two of them to their feet when they were ready, giving Sky a quick hug before releasing her to fetch her shoes and pulling Stiles into a bone crushing man hug, thumping each other on the back.

"I'm so sorry for not answering," Scott apologised profusely to Sky as the four trooped unsteadily out into the hall, Sky still barefoot. "Gerard invited me for dinner and I kinda had to go. Otherwise he would've probably shot me, werewolf or not."

"It's fine, you got here in the end." Sky was wringing out her hair as best she could with one hand.

"And we worked out where the bestiary is," Stiles grinned at them. He held aloft Gerard's keys, which Stiles had left in the office door, and flicked a USB key. "It's on here."

Stiles fist bumped him tiredly, barely able to raise his hand high enough. He had an arm slung possessively around Skyler's waist, squeezing every so often to reassure himself that she was safe and she was here. The carpark was empty of all but Roscoe, Baby, the Camaro and Melissa's car. Sky sat on Roscoe's bonnet while Stiles fetched his laptop and Scott and Derk hovered nearby.

"Here. I found this in the backseat," Stiles said once the laptop was starting up and USB was inserted, holding out a black hoodie. "Just to be a bit warmer."

"Thanks."

She was shivering from the cold as she slipped off the bonnet, walkimg around the side of the car. She pulled her shoes on first and decided to tie them up this time, now that she was in less of a rush. She laid her phone and keys on the ground next to her before grabbing the hem of her shirt and tugging the sopping garment over her head.

"Sky?" Stiles poked his head around the Jeep. "We have the USB stick work..."

He lost track of what he was saying as he caught sight of Skyler standing in her bra, dripping wet. She would've felt the urge to cover herself with her hands if it hadn't been for the way that Stiles had been looking at her. She had thrown on her comfy bra when she had changed into her pyjamas, and it was not the most flattering choice of underclothes. It was grey flannel, the elastic had worn, there were holes in the straps and her boobs were practically spilling over. But Stiles was looking at her like she was a goddess. It was a way in which everyone should be looked at least once in their life, not lust filled or leering, like you would expect of a teenage boy, but full of wonder and adoration.

"USB." He repeated dumbly, trying and failing to avert his eyes from her breasts.

They were standing behind the Jeep, shielded from Scott and Dereks view, otherwise Skyler would not have been so comfortable with her partial nudity. Now she just slung the jumper over the spare tire and gripped Stiles' hoodie at the waist, reeling him in. She crushed her lips to his desperately, needing his warmth. He moaned lowly into her mouth as she parted her lips, sliding her tongue along the seam of his. Their tongues danced together perfectly, heads tilted and moving furiously, both fighting to get closer together. She moved her hands from his waist around to rest of the small of his back before slowly inching them down to rest her fingers on the curve at the top of his ass. He jumped slightly in shock and she wondered if she had made a mistake and was about to retract her hands when Stiles slid his fingers from her hips to rest along her spine.

She was torn between arching forwards to press her body against his even harder and arching back into his hands. They were warm and soft and his nails were scratching on the exposed skin of her back. She whimpered quietly as he ran his hand up and inched the tips of his fingers under the clasp of her bra. She was ready for him to tear it off and do whatever depraved things he wanted to do to her, and she probably would've let him if Derek hadn't yelled at them.

"We can hear you two, so will you knock it off?!" He snapped from the front of the car.

Skyler and Stiles parted, both blushing red. They giggled nervously as Stiles turned his back, gesturing for her to put on the hoodie. He couldn't resist peeking over his shoulder as she pulled the jumper over her head. He winced as he caught sight of the puckered scar on her abdomen where Allison had shot her. He still felt like that was his fault even though he hadn't been there when it happened. She stuck her arms through the hoodie and snuggled into the baggy jumper. She wandered over to Stiles and slung her arms around his waist and resting her head on his chest. He kissed her forehead gently and took her hand, pulling her over to Stiles and Derek, the former was blushing wildly and the latter was glaring at them.

"We found some pages about the creature, but..." Scott waved a hand at the laptop. There was an illustration on the page that was unmistakably the lizard creature but the words next to were unintelligible.

"Is that even a language?" Stiles was staring at the pages in confusion.

"None that I've ever seen," Skyler said.

"How are we supposed to figure out what this thing is?" Scott wondered aloud.

"It's called a kanima." Derek had waked away from the little group, then turned back to face them.

"You knew the whole time," Stiles accused him.

"No," Derek replied defensively. "Only when it was confused by its own reflection."

"It doesn't know what it is," Scott realised.

"Or who," Derek said, confirming Scott's theory.

"So, this thing doesn't know that it's sometimes human too?" Skyler asked the older werewolf and he nodded in response.

"What else do you know?" Stiles asked him.

"Just stories, rumours," he admitted.

"But it's like us?" Scott interjected.

"A shape-shifter, yes, but it's..." Derek struggled to find the right words to deacribe the creature. "It's not right. It's like a..."

"An abomination," Stiles filled in gravely, staring at Derek who gave him a short nod.

"Derek?" Scott called his attention back. "We need to work together on this. Maybe even tell the Argents."

"You trust them?" Derek asked incredulously.

"Nobody trusts anyone! That's the problem!" Scott shouted. He wasn't angry, he was pleading and frustrated. "While we're here, arguing about who's on what side, there's something scarier, stronger, and faster than any of us and it's killing people and we still don't even know anything about it."

I know one thing," Derek snapped. "When I find it, I'm gonna kill it." He turned on his heel and stormed over to the Camaro.

"I should probably go too," Scott told them. "I've gotta pick up my mom from the hospital." He turned to leave, but stopped as a thought popped into his head. "Stiles, can you save the bestiary onto your laptop?"

"Yeah, and I can send it on to you guys, if you want," Stiles offered.

"Awesome. And we can get Gerard's keys back to Allison tomorrow," Scott suggested.

"Sky or I can slip them back to her," Stiles agreed. "Night, Scott."

He raised a hand in farewell and jogged over to his car, driving out of the lot after Derek. Sky and Stiles stood in silence for a minute, both just focussed on their breathing and on staying upright. It was just past midnight and they both had to be up at seven at the latest to get to school in time.

"You look like you're gonna drop where you stand," Stiles pointed out after a minute.

"I feel like it too." She leaned back against the Jeep, letting her head fall forward and hang loosely. "I can imagine that you feel worse. So much worse."

"Everything hurts," he complained, shuffling forward and dropping his head onto her shoulder. "And Derek didn't even say thank you."

"Yeah, he's a dick." She rubbed a hand up and down his back. "And you should've just let him drown."

"You would've been really, really mad."

"Probably."

They stayed tangled together for another few minutes until Skyler decided that it would be better to go home before Nick found out that she was gone and her punishment increased tenfold. That was if he wasn't already aware.

"Text me before you go to bed, okay?" He tucked her hair behind her ears and looked her right in the eyes.

"You too. I want to know that you're home safe," she said, running her hands over his shoulders. "And I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'll pick you up for school?"

"I don't think that that's the best idea," she told him. "I'll tell you tomorrow, 'kay?" She didn't want to explain to him now that her father had some childish vendetta against Stiles for some reason. She was too tired to go into it.

"Alright."

He dipped his head and kissed her gently, tracing the outline of her mouth with his lips. Skyler hated to pull away from him but she had to get home so she wriggle away from him, laughing, no matter how hard he tried to hold her closer.

"Okay," Sky giggled, shoving him in the chest. "Enough. Enough now." She pulled open the driver's side door of her car and threw herself into the seat, then slammed the door behind her. "Go away and go home."

"Anyone would think that you didn't enjoy my delightful company," Stiles drawled sarcastically through the window.

"I don't." She cupped the side of his face with her hand and eaned up to kiss him on the cheek. "Now goodnight."

"Night," he replied, drawing back from the car.

She waited until he was safely in Roscoe before starting the car and driving off the school grounds. She paused at the intersection outside the school, watching to see Stiles take his turning in the other direction, taking the shortcut to his house. She only moved on when she had seen his tail lights disappear. Sky drove home slowly, peering out the window into the dark, wondering where the kanima was. She was in no rush home anyway, if they knew that she had left the house then she was screwed no matter when she arrived home. If they didn't know, then Skyler was fairly sure that she could climb in through the bedroom window undetected.

She turned off the engine and let the car freewheel from the end of the street to the front of her driveway, bringing it to a halt in roughly the same position that it had been in before. Rebecca's Hummer was back in the drive but Nick's was gone. She climbled out of the car and closed the door as quietly as possible. Her wet shirt was tucked into the pocket of her hoodie and was pressing uncomfortably against her stomach. It was horrible and she wanted to go to bed.

Sky clambered up on to the porch railing underneath her window and gripped the guttering that was level with her chest. She pulled herself up, swinging a leg onto the sloped porch roof and rolling on to the tiles ungracefully. The window was still open a crack and she stuck her fingers under the frame, pushing it up until she could fit her body through the gap, and slid through, feet first.

She stripped completely naked once she was in her room, dumping the sodden clothes in her empty laundry basket. Her body was mostly dry and she couldn't be bothered to find a towel, so she just pulled on a pair of black panties and a Green Arrow t-shirt. She fell under the covers with all the energy of a sloth on Valium. She hadn't even turned on the light. It was an immense effort to lift her hand and type out a message to Stiles, just letting him know that she was at home and safe. She couldn't relax until he texted back two minutes later with a picture of his feet sticking out of the bed. She dropped her phone on the bedside table and snuggled her head into the pillows.

"Where were you?"

Skyler jumped in absolute terror and flipped herself over to face the bedroom door. Rebecca had managed to open it without her hearing and now stood silhouetted against the hallway light.

"Where were you?" She repeated. Sky had never heard her sound so defeated. "You're not going to tell me then," she continued after a minute.

"Rebecca-"

"I told your father that I had allowed you to go to the game when he called me saying that your car was missing," Rebecca said quietly. "We shouted a lot. I said he was being harsh and unfair, and what he was saying about Stiles was uncalled for. He said that I had no right to tell him how to parent, I am not your mother, I have never been anyone's mother and I was undermining his authority."

"Fucking hell," Sky breathed out, running a hand through her hair.

"He's staying with a friend tonight," Rebecca continued in a numb voice. "I don't know this friend, who they are or where they live and I don't know will he be back tomorrow."

"Jesus, Becca," Sky was struggling to sit up and concentrate on the conversation, but her mind was already drifting off to sleep. "I am so sorry. This is all my fault. What can I do to make this up to you?"

"Whatever you're running around and doing with your friends had better be pretty important."

And with that emotionless comment, she turned and left Skyler's room, pulling the door shut behind her. Skyler could hear her enter her own bedroom and after a few seconds she could hear the sound of crying. Skyler slumped back on her pillows, glancing at the clock and groaning at the idea of having to get up in six hours. She pressed her hands over her ears to block out the sounds of Rebecca's soft cries from the next room over. That problem would have to wait until tomorrow, her mind was over taken by thoughts of the kanima right now. But every so often, Sky's imagination would present her with a mental image of Becca's tear stained face, and she finally drifted off to sleep, feeling somehow worse than she did facing when down supernatural creatures. Her world was strange.


	9. Guess Who

_**Hey guys, new chapter here. It's up quicker than usual which is cool. The main storyline of the season really kicks off here so the chapters will be longer and more action packed. Also, I was wondering if there are many people reading this because there aren't many reviews, which is fine, I don't need reviews to write, but it just makes me wonder if anyone's reading this and whether or not I should keep writing it. Enjoy X**_

Three days later, Nick was gone again and Skyler had spoken to Rebecca twice. She wasn't sure if Nick had come back to the house between going to his friend's house the night of the game and leaving last night for San Francisco. With her dad gone the grounding had been lifted or just faded from existence. Skyler had tried to thanks Becca but the woman had only been distant and quiet and they had resolved to speak only when necessary. It was a sucky situation but she wouldn't have changed anything she had done that night. Stiles or Derek might have died if she hadn't turned up when she did, or called Scott. Her one regret was screwing things up with Becca, but she would have to fix that when she had time.

They had found next to nothing on the kanima, and the bestiary was no help whatsoever. The hadn't even managed to figure out what language it was after nearly an entire day of staring at the pages which had just resulted in Stiles and Skyler making out on the couch for about ten seconds until the Sheriff arrived home and killed the mood, though she had stayed for dinner and eaten lasagne and watched Prison Break with them.

She hadn't seen, or spoken to, Derek since the night at the pool. Erica and Boyd had been attending school regularly, which made Sky uncomfortable. They should've been in their underground lair, plotting to kidnap innocent children or terrorise old women or whatever Derek's pack did in their spare time.

She was searching for them now was she walked down the hallway, always trying her hardest to avoid them. Boyd had been a nice guy who had made a bad decision and was still a sweet kid, but Erica had been nice but was now an utter bitch.

She was still on edge as she reached her homeroom, waiting for the betas to jump out from under a desk or behind a bookshelf. Sky was early, as usual, so she sat in her seat, in front of Stiles and across from Scott, waiting for the boys to turn up so that they could discuss what their next move would be. The seat ahead of her had remained empty for the past two or three weeks. Isaac Lahey had sat there until his arrest. She missed the kind boy that he used to be, and she wished that someone other than Jackson and Derek had known about his home life earlier and done something about it. Scott had described what he had seen at Isaac's house the night of the full moon and it was sickening. The freezer that he had spent nights locked in, the broken glass and fist holes in the wall, the small blood spatters.

Scott wandered into the room two minutes later, dropping into his seat beside her and waving. "Morning."

"Hey. You look exhausted," she pointed out.

He nodded in agreement, rubbing his hands up and down his face. He had bags under his eyes and his mouth was drooping down slightly. "I was watching over Allison last night." She raised an eyebrow. "I was sitting on the roof, looking in through her bedroom window."

"You are such a stalker," Skyler accused him. "You are werewolf Edward Cullen."

"Yeah, Scott. Do you really think that you can protect her from that thing? The kanima, is it?"

Skyler and Scott spun around so fast that they both nearly flew out of their chairs. Isaac Lahey was standing behind them, looking unfairly hot. His hair was tousled, eyes dark. He was dressed like a mini Derek Hale, dark jeans and boots, black shirt and black leather jacket. He winked at Skyler and sauntered to the desk in front of her.

"How is he here?" She hissed across to Scott.

"I don't know! I thought he was meant to be on the run," Scott replied urgently.

"I can hear you, y'know," Isaac interrupted, tapping his ear. "I have exceptional hearing."

"Yeah, well... Shut up." She flushed in embarrassment at the childish response. They sat in silence for a second and she could practically see Isaac's grin growing wider. "How are you here anyway? Without being shot the second you walked in the door, I mean."

"Well, Jackson may have rescinded his statement. Apparently he didn't see me and my dad fighting the night he died," Isaac shrugged and glanced over his shoulder. "Which means that I am free to go. No evidence, no charges." He turned away from her and started to tap on the desk for a minute. "Oh, and by the way, Derek and Erica say hi."

It was a concentrated effort not to call him names or sling insults at him. She would be the bigger woman and rise above. Instead of speaking to him, she sat seething and occasionally exchanging worried looks with Scott. A few seconds before the bell rang to start homeroom Stiles came flying into the room, throwing himself into his seat and having to slam his hands flat on the table to stop himself sliding out the other side.

"Guys, I just talked to my dad, who just talked to Jackson," he said, words flying a mile a minute, "And I've got really terrible, horrible, very, very bad news."

"I think we already know," Scott told him grimly, directing his attention towards Isaac.

The homeroom teacher entered a moment later, slamming the door behind her. It was clearly a bad day for her too. The three at the back of the class couldn't concentrate on what she was saying becuase they were too busy glaring at the back of Isaac Lahey's head. They could see Allison mirroring them out of the corner of their eyes, but no one had explained to her how he was here yet. He was the first one out of his seat when the bell rang, his werewolf agility and grace making the speed look effortless. Skyler darted out of her seat after him, ready for fight.

"Skyler, this is not a good idea," Stiles warned her, reaching out a hand to grab her wrist. "He is stronger and faster than you and he probably has Erica with him and we have absolutely no idea where Derek is."

"We have no information about the kanima, nothing to work on," Skyler pointed out furiously. "Maybe Derek knows something, more than he's telling us. And he has to be doing something about this if he's sending in the troops." She waved a hand at the door that Isaac had just left through. She could do nothing in the wat of fighting the kanima or the hunters, and she felt like the only way that she could help was on the Derek front. He seemed to like her the most and it looked like he had told his pack not to hurt her. "We need to find out what's going on."

"Then we'll find out together," Scott insisted, placing himself firmly in front of her.

Sky looked between them for a few seconds, then rolled her eyes and nodded. She knew that they were right, but she hated it. She hated the feeling of being useless and that was pretty much all she was feeling right now. She chivvied them out the door once they were done, not wanting to be late to her next class.

"All right, I found one thing online called a kanima," Stiles explained as they left the room in a huddle. "It's a werejaguar from South America that goes after murderers."

"That thing was not a jaguar," Scott pointed out.

"And this is not South America," Sky added.

"Yeah, and I'm not exactly a murderer," Stiles drawled as if that should've been the most obvious problem with the kanima theory.

"Yeah, but you did see it kill somebody which is probably why it tried to kill you," Scott realised, drawing ahead of them. "And it's still trying to kill you, and it probably won't stop until you're dead."

"You know, sometimes I question this 'friendship'," Stiles called after him, putting air quotes around the word friendship.

"Oh, baby," Sky wrapped an arm around his waist. "Don't worry, I won't let the big bad South American lizard jaguar murderer killing thing hurt you."

"Aha aha ha ha," Stiles laughed sardonically, placing his head on top of hers. "That's not funny, that is not even funny. You were at the pool too. After it eats me, it's gonna eat you and you won't have any warning or time to escape."

"Actually, Derek was there longer than me, so it'll eat Derek first and then me. So when you and Derek are horribly eaten and managled, I will have an excellent warning," Skyler reasoned, disentangling herself from Stiles and leading him down the corridor towards English.

The rest of their classes went without any discussion of the kanima or sightings of Erica and Isaac, until third last period. Scott and Stiles were sitting next to each other in the Econ room, Skyler behind Stiles with her feet up the back of his seat. They were discussing the pros and cons of the cafeteria's chilli cheese fries, which Scott insisted were made from meat rather than cow because apparently he could smell that, when Jackson dropped heavily into the open seat next to Skyler.

"Hey, testicle left and right," he snapped. "What the hell's a kanima?"

All three of them flinched in shock. How did Jackson even know that name? Had Jackson seen the creature? Stiles whipped around to stare at Skyler in shock and she mouthed 'what the fuck' back at him. Jackson was now in the know about information that they had only gained through great personal risk, and Jackson had managed to pick it up in the space of a day.

"How do you know about that?" Scott hissed at him.

"Derek and his weirdo friends, they took me to their creepy underground lair," Jackson spat. "They used this goo on me, said something about a snake not being poisoned by its own venom or whatever. I couldn't move for hours. That goo comes from the kanima, right? What's the kanima? Erica and Isaac mentioned it in the hallway, something about the kanima, and chemistry and Lydia. What's the kanima?!"

"A were lizard jaguar thing from South America that kills murderers," Skyler explained absentmindedly, turning back to the two boys. "So Derek's testing people now?"

"He tested me!" Jackson snapped, slapping a hand on the desk. "Me!"

"I don't care!" Skyler threw back.

"All right, listen up," Coach interrupted, in true Coach style, before they could continue. "A quick warning before we start our review. Some of you, like McCall, might want to start their own study groups, because tomorrow's midterm is so profoundly difficult I'm not even too sure I could pass it. Okay, I need a volunteer at the board to answer the first question." He looked around the room at the students in the room, choosing a boy in the front row with long lank hair. "Come on, let's go, buddy."

"Paralyzed from the neck down." Jackson continued, furiously. "Do you have any idea what that feels like?"

"I'm familiar with the sensation," Stiles drawled.

"Wait, why would Derek test you?" Scott asked confusedly. "Why would he think that it's you?"

"How should I know?" Jackson replied, but he didn't make eye contact and was avoiding answering a direct question, which was the most sure-fire way of telling if someone was lying.

"You tell us," Skyler said flatly.

"Wait, do they think it's Lydia?" Stiles asked, coming to a conclusion that they all should've arrived at once they heard that Isaac and Erica had been discussing both Lydia and the kanima in the same conversation.

"I don't know," Jackson stated firmly. "All I heard was her name and something about chemistry."

"Jackson!" All four of them jumped out of their seats slightly, not having realised that Coach had managed to sneak up on them when they were talking. "Do you have something you want to share with the rest of the class?"

"Um, just an undying admiration for my...my coach," Jackson bullshitted quickly.

"That's really kind of you," Coach nodded and smiled, making them all feel as safe as possible before snapping at them like a dog. "Now shut up! Shut it! Anybody else?" He looked around the rest of the class as the boy solving the problem on the board sat back down. He jabbed a finger towards the back of the room and Lydia pushed herself out of her seat and strutted up to the board. She took the chalk in her hands and turned to the front.

"How do we know it's not her?" Scott asked, leaning back into Sky and Stiles.

"Because I looked into the eyes of that thing, okay? And what I saw was pure evil," Stiles told them before anyone else could open their mouth. "And when I look into Lydia's eyes, I only see fifty percent evil. All right, maybe sixty. You know, but no more than fourty on a good day."

"And she's my best friend," Skyler added. "I think I'd be able to tell if she was a were creature." The words felt wrong in her mouth though. Lydia had been acting off recently and Skyler had been worried about it, but surely it couldn't be because she was the kanima.

"They're not very good arguments," Scott said.

"I'm aware of that, but I swear it's not her," Stiles insisted. "It can't be, all right? Lydia's fine, isn't she, Sky?"

He turned in his seat to look at her, expecting an answer. She was about to reassure him that Lydia was right as rain until she caught sight of Lydia over his shoulder. She was stood at the board, clutching chalk in one hand. There was some form of writing all over the chalkboard in different shapes and patterns, lines, vertical and horizontal and diagonal, circles and spirals. Her entire body was shaking and her fist clenched, crushing the chalk to dust.

"Lydia!" Coach yelled, drawing the attention of Scott, Stiles, Jackson and every other student that hadn't already been watching her. She turned back to face the room and everyone could see the red rimmed eyes and the tears on her cheeks. "Okay, then. Does anyone else want to try answering? This time in English?"

"What is that, Greek?" Scott asked as Lydia wound her way through the seats, keeping her head down.

"No, actually, I think it's English." Stiles showed them his phone which had a picture of the board on it, then flipped it back to front. All of the writing read 'Someone Help Me'. Skyler felt sick.

She spent the rest of the class watching Lydia intently. Her head was down until five minutes before the class had ended when she stuck up her hand and asked to be excused to use the bathroom. She didn't return.

Scott, Stiles and Skyler didn't have time to wait and see if she turned up. They had chemistry with Harris next and whatever Erica and Isaac were planning to do to her was happening in that class. They had to walk down two floors to get to the chemistry room and even though they hustled, the class was nearly full when they got there. Stiles was convinced that Derek was just going to burst through a window and cut her throat open. Sky and Stiles were not so sure.

"Derek is not gonna kill her without proof," Scott hissed as they entered the room, peering around to see if Derek was crouched behind a Bunsen burner.

"All right, so he tests her like he did with Jackson, right?" Stiles conceded. "But when and where?"

"I think here and now."

They followed Scott's gaze to the other end of the room. Isaac still looked like Derek Hale junior and Erica looked very much like what Sky would imagine Derek to be if he were a busty blonde adolescent teenage girl. Their eyes flickered to an empty seat at the front of the room next to Lydia. She appeared much more composed than she had been in Econ and Sky guessed that she had spent those last few minutes waashing her face and reapplying make-up in the bathroom. Scott darted to the stool next to Lydia, Stiles running to her other side and dragging a stool over to take his place. Skyler just shoved Lydia over slightly and forced her to share the chair.

"What are you freaks doing?" Lydia asked, looking around her in surprise. Sky glanced over her shoulder where Isaac and Erica had settled themselves at the table behind them.

"Just sitting with my friends. Just sitting together," Sky said with an uncomfortable grin.

"You are all so damn weird."

"How are you feeling after Econ? You seemed like you were feeling kinda sick." Sky tried to be as comforting and considerate as possible while keeping her voice low to avoid Scott or Stiles overhearing. Although Scott not hearing them was an impossibility.

"Why would you ask that?" She snapped back, flicking her hair behind her ear. "I'm fine. Nothing happened."

"Lyds, we both know that that's bullshit," Sky huffed disbelievingly.

"Is this really the place to talk about this?" She replied angrily.

They were cut off as Harris entered the room, looking as hate filled as ever. "Einstein once said, 'Two things are infinite; the universe and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe.' I myself have encountered infinite stupidity." He paused and clapped a hand on Stiles' shoulder. "So to combat the plague of ignorance in my class, you're going to combine efforts through a round of group experiments. Let's see if two heads are indeed better than one. Or in Mr Stilinski's case, less than one." He looked down at Stiles in disgust and Lydia smirked.

"Stop that," Skyler warned her quietly.

"Erica," Harris continued, "You take the first station. You'll start with-" Almost every male hand in the room flew up, along with about half the females. "-I didn't ask for volunteers. Put your hormonal little hands down." All the hands slunk down sheepishly and Harris turned to glare at Scott. "Start with Mr McCall. All right, next two."

He went around the room, pairing people up. Allison was thankfully put with Lydia, Erica with Scott, Stiles was placed with Danny and Skyler was sat with Isaac. She moved as far away from him as she could, placing herself on the edge of the stool. He found this wildly amusing and leaned in towards her, grinning wolfishly.

"Are you scared of me?" He murmured, practically resting his head on her shoulder.

"Kind of."

"Well, that was much easier than I thought," he looked taken aback but not enough to wipe the smirk off his face. "Derek said that you had some fight in you."

"I figure that you can smell fear and all that crap, so what's the point in lying?" She spoke casually, pretending to check the book to see which indicator she should use. She knew, of course, this experiment was one of the few things that she had studied, she just didn't want to talk to him.

"You're funny." He tipped his head back and laughed quietly but very obviously.

"I'm not that funny," she grumbled, furrowing her brows in confusion.

"Well what if I think you are?" He ran a hand through his hair, ruffling the already unruly curls.

"Then I would ask why? We've never talked further than a 'how d'you do'," she pointed out, still the only one doing any work on the experiment.

He stayed silent for a few seconds until it made her antsy and she looked over to Isaac who had shifted closer. He reached out slowly, raising a hand. Skyler fought the urge to smash an Erlenmeyer flask over his head becuase she knew that she would be blamed for that. He twisted his fingers in a few loose strands of her hair and fixed his eyes on her face.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered.

"Cut that shit out," she told him, slapping at his hand. But he simply would not move. "Or when Derek was schooling you about how to pull me into the pack, did he not mention that I have a boyfriend?" She went to smack him with the other hand but he caught her wrist and twisted her arm downwards, holding it painfully under the table.

"Trust me, I'm not half as nice as Derek," Isaac growled in her ear.

She laughed through the stinging pain, gritting her teeth. "You couldn't even come close Derek. He is the king of all dickheads. You're nothing compared to him."

"I wonder if you'll be saying that when we're done with Lydia," he sneered, tightening his fingers in her hair slightly.

"You even go near her and I'll rip your throat out with my teeth," she threatened him.

"I wonder how your boyfriend would react if we hurt her?" Isaac asked with feigned interest. "I heard that he had a bit of a thing for her."

"You heard wrong," she told him firmly.

"Well maybe he'll run to her for comfort, 'cause he doesn't look too happy with you right now," Isaac breathed out sweetly.

Skyler whipped around to Stiles and Danny's table, eyes wide. Danny was glaring at the table angrily, mopping up liquid that had been spilled. Stiles was glowering straight back at them. It was only then that Skyler realised how bad this must look to him. Isaac was playing with her hair, mouth less that an inch away from her ear, leaning into each other, looking like they were holding hands under the table. She dug her nails into his hand and he released her, letting her whip her hand back from him and scoot the chair as far away from him as she could, trying to mouth to Stiles that nothing happened, but he was staring holes in the table, body quivering gently.

"Is that really your plan?" She hissed venomously. "Flirting and pissing people off? Really?"

"I'm just doing what I was told," he said casually, leaning away from her.

"And why does Derek want you to flirt shamelessly with me?" Skyler asked, trying to keep as far away as possible while still being able to speak to him.

"Drive a wedge between you guys probably," Isaac suggested. "If you two start fighting and freaking out, then maybe you'll see the light. See that they're not really protecting you."

"What light am I seeing?"

"Derek's pack. We stick together, we look after each other." He put on the most earnest and trustworthy face that he could muster. "He cares about you, you know he does, and he just wants you to see that he can help you. Look at how he helped me, look at how he helped Erica and Boyd."

Skyler saw Harris ready to tap the little metal bell on the desk and took the opportunity to get the last word in. "You sound like you're in an infomercial," she said sharply, collecting her things and getting ready to make a dash for Lydia's table. "And if there's one thing I hate more than dickhead werewolves, it's sleazy salesmen."

Harris' hand connected with the bell and Sky jumped out of her seat, skimming around the lab table. Erica stepped in front of her and smiled like a cat with a mouse trapped between its claws. She leaned an elbow on the table, blocking the entire walkway. Skyler growled in frustration and considered for a second before ducking under her arm and elbowing her in the side as hard as she could, hoping Harris didn't see. The seat next to Lydia was already taken and Skyler's heart was in her mouth until she recognised the floppy hair and broad shoulders, realising that it was Scott.

"Come join me," Erica beckoned from her work station with a saccharine grin.

Skyler looked around quickly and saw that it was the only free seat left. She huffed and joined the girl, noticing Stiles and Isaac sitting together, speaking in hushed tones. Erica was tapping a glass beaker with her fingernail, watching Skyler with an intrigued look. She clutched the edge of the table to steady herself, ignoring Erica who had started talking to her in low tones. She was scanning the room in what she thought was a discreet fashion when she locked eyes with both Isaac and Stiles. They were both staring in her direction, Isaac with a flirtatious smile and a wink, Stiles looked absolutely livid.

"Are you even listening to me?" Erica snapped, and Skyler felt a sharp pain on her upper thigh.

She hissed and looked down. Erica's hand was spread across her skin just above the hem of her black skater skirt. Her claws were extended and digging into her leg. There was blood welling up at the five points, starting to run down her leg.

"Looks like I'm going to be doing this quite a lot today," Erica simpered, leaning in and pressing her lips against Sky's ear. "At least until you start to listen."

"I don't want to listen to anything you have to say," Skyler ground out through gritted teeth, fighting the urge to cry out in pain. "You're trying to kill my best friend."

"Oh, sweetie, we're not going to kill her," Erica laughed, drawing back. "We're going to prove that she's the kanima, and then Derek's going to kill her while we watch."

"Derek wouldn't do that."

"I guess you don't him as well as you think." Erica gace her a fake apologetic smile.

"And you do?" Skyler laughed mockingly, leg twitching in its efforts to tear itself away from Erica's claws. "You do understand that he's not interested in you? He doesn't want to fuck you, he doesn't want your opinion, he doesn't even want you. You're just a number to him, he wouldn't have looked at you twice if he hadn't thought that you were pathetic enough to accept his offer. And if you can't see that, then I guess you don't know him at all."

"I'm not the pathetic one here," Erica snarled, all friendly pretence slipping away.

She pressed her claws in harder, and the tips disappeared underneath the skin. Sky gave a little whimper of pain and grabbed her wrist, trying to tug her hand away but the girl held strong.

"Derek's gonna be pissed if you take a chunk out of my leg," she grunted hoarsely.

"I don't give a shit what Derek thinks," she replied, moving in again and letting Skyler see her eyes flash amber for a second. "I had so many years of people calling me weak and useless and pathetic and a freak, but not any more. Now they can't take their eyes off of me. Stiles certainly couldn't, neither could Derek or Isaac."

"I honestly couldn't care less about who Derek and Isaac want to look at, those idiots are none of my concern," Skyler said. "But Stiles, that idiot is my concern and if you lay a finger on him then we will release almighty hell on your head. Do you understand? Same goes for Lydia."

"I won't have to if Isaac can get to them first," Erica pointed out, retracting her claws as the bell dinged for the end of this round.

Sky shot up from her seat, wincing at the pain that lanced through her leg when she put any pressure on it. Isaac had shoved gracefully through the students to settle himself next to Lydia. Sky bit her lips, eyes darting between the seats, wondering what she could do. Allison slipped behind and sat in the seat Sky had just vacated, keeping Erica occupied. Stiles moved to join Isaac and Lydia but Harris smacked his hand sharply with a ruler, sending him back to work with Scott. Skyler dropped into an empty seat at a table that was next to Lydia and Isaac.

"Uh, hi."

Skyler spun around in her seat, forgetting that she was sharing the table. The boy next to her was familiar. He was in several of her classes and she remembered seeing him at most of the lacrosse games. She couldn't tell while he was sitting down, but it looked like he was slightly taller than her. He had light eyes and light brown hair, and was wearing a nervous smile.

"You're Skyler, right?" He cocked his head to the side and squinted at her. "We have, like, almost every class together."

"Oh, yeah." She nodded, wracking her brains. "You're Mike."

"Matt," he corrected her. "Matt Daehler."

"Well, hi, Matt," she greeted him again and then turned her back on him, facing Lydia and Isaac.

"Do you want to start working on this?" He asked her from behind her back.

"To be honest, no," she told him absentmindedly. "But you go ahead. Don't let me stop you."

Matt grumbled in irritation behind her, but she ignored him in favour of watching Isaac and her best friend. So far Isaac had been perfectly gentlemanly from what she could see, but how long was that going to last?

"This is meant to be a group experiment," Matt spoke up.

"Christ, you are so passive agressive," she snapped back under her breath. Could he not see that she was busy?

Isaac was smiling benignly at Lydia, tipping chemicals into the beakers and mixing powders. Lydia was blatantly ignoring him. She hadn't liked Isaac before his transformation and she didn't like him afterwards either. She had disliked him for petty and shallow reasons, mainly because he wasn't rich and popular, but at least she was sticking to her guns and ignoring him even now that he was more attractive and confident.

"Skyler, do you want to finish off the reaction?" Matt was desperately trying to get her to chip in with the experiment.

"No." Sky knew that she was being rude and sorta bitchy but she was so not in the mood for this crap when she had a million other things on her mind.

"Group experiments mean more than one person, y'know," Matt said coldly. "Which means that my grade for this rests on your participation as well as mine."

"I didn't ask to do this class, do you understand that?" She hissed, dragging her eyes away from Isaac and Lydia to turn and face Matt. "I have so many other things to be worried about right now rather than your grade. I actually have real life problems."

"And I don't?"

"Oh, shut up, Matt."

She regretted it the second it came out of her mouth, but she was much too stubborn to apologise for it now. She probably wouldn't apologise anytime soon either, she didn't see him enough to have ever engaged in conversation before then and she assumed that they would probably never engage in conversation after this either.

"Time!" Harris called. "If you've catalyzed the reaction correctly, you should now be looking at a crystal." There was a crystal in the beaker that sat in front of her and Matt, but she wasn't going to be taking any of the credit for creating that. "Now for the part of that last expertiment I'm sure you'll all enjoy, you can eat it."

Sky wrinkled her nose in disgust. It was pretty much the first thing that they had been told on the first day in the labs, 'Do not eat or drink anything in the lab, especially do not eat or drink anything from lab equiptment or that has been in contact with lab equiptment'. She wouldn't put it past Harris to try and poison them all though.

"Lydia!"

She had been so distracted by arguing with Matt and hating Harris that she had momentarily forgotten their objective in this class. Scott was on his feet having just shouted at Lydia. She was holding the crystal that she and Isaac had created to her lips, and Skyler would not have noticed if it weren't for the shine from the windows, but there was a weird translucent goo dripping off one of the crystal's spikes. She only realised what it was a millisecond after Lydia had placed the crystal in her mouth and bit down. She chewed for a long few seconds then swallowed and set it back down.

"What?" She asked Scott innocently, peering over her shoulder to raise a brow at him.

"Nothing," he told her defeatedly, slumping back into his seat.

Everyone else went back to eating their own crystals, ignoring the outburst. Skyler kept her eyes glued to Lydia, as did Scott, Stiles, Allison, Isaac and Erica. Stiles had told her that it took just under a minutefor the paralysis to kick in. It had been forty five seconds since she had swallowed the kanima venom. Sche could see Isaac tapping his finger in time with the second hand on the clock and knew that he was thinking the same thing that she was, presumably based on knowledge from both Derek and Jackson.

All five of them jumped out of their seats once the hand hit the minute mark and Lydia was still packing up the glassware. Skyler didn't want to even consider what it meant that the venom hadn't affected her. She swept an arm across her table, knocking books and pencils and possibly a glass thermometer into her school bag, slinging the strap over her shoulder. Sky clambered over her table, knowing that she couldn't make her way through the students in time, although she garnered a few strange looks along the way.

"C'mon Lydia," she said firmly, closing her hand around the girl's upper arm. "You have an appointment with Morrell."

"I have to put this stuff away," Lydia insisted, making Skyler groan in frustration. Since when had Lydia been so eager to do anything that did not directly benefit her.

"Isaac can do it," Sky responded, matching her tone of voice and shooting the boy a sharp glare. "He's young and fit and healthy and capable of cleaning up a desk."

"I had no idea that you thought so highly of me," he said with a smirk, dropping one eyelid in a lazy wink. He looked casual and easy going but he kept one steely eye on Lydia, watching for any signs of scales or gooey claws.

"Well shit, I didn't mean to inflate your ego," Sky drawled. "It can barely fit in the room with you as it is. Now, excuse us."

Isaac looked like he wanted to stop them but there was nothing he could do in the crowded classroom. He stepped back to let them pass graciously, waving them by with a hand. He bent down to Skyler as she passed and whispered in her ear. "You might want to clean that leg up."

Sky had forgotten about the blood. It had run down from the five small, but deep, claw shaped incisions that Erica had left in her thigh, and was now pooling in her sock. It probably looked to the others that her time of the month had spontaneously arrived, but she couldn't care less right now. She raised her chin and ignored Isaac as she left the room with Lydia, directing her towards the guidance counsellor's offices.

"Why are you being so weird?" Lydia rolled her eyes at Skyler.

"Look, I know today's just been really confusing and I'm sorry," Sky tried to explain while worming her way through the students and looking over her shoulder for Derek's pack. "But when you're done with Morrell, wait here. One of us, Scott, Allison, Stiles or I, will come and meet you, alright?"

"You need to explain exactly what is going on," Lydia insisted as they stopped outside Morrell's room. "Now."

"No. Not right now, at least." Skyler grasped Lydia's shoulders and turned the girl to face her. "Soon, I swear. Just promise that you'll wait here for one of us."

"Whatever," Lydia muttered, turning and walking away from her.

"Lydia, promise me!"

"Yeah, yeah, I promise," she called over her shoulder.

"And promise me that you won't talk to Isaac or Lydia," Skyler shouted. "Or Derek Hale!"

"Why would Derek Hale be here?" Lydia screwed up her face in confusion.

"Just promise," Sky whined.

"I promise," Lydia said in the tone of voice that one would adopt while speaking to a petulant child, and threw herself into the waiting room seats.

Skyler hovered around the corner, sneaking glances as Lydia every few seconds until she saw Lydia go into the office and close the door behind her. She whipped out her phone and saw that Stiles had texted her a few minutes ago. It was just to tell her that they were hidden in an empty classroom on the second floor, discussing their plan of action. She made her way to them, stopping in the bathroom for a minute to wash the crusted blood off her leg. She rapped on the door sharply when she got there. Stiles opened the door a crack, peering out through one eye and only opening the door once he saw who was waiting there. She slid through the crack in the door and Stiles slammed it behind her.

"Derek's outside, waiting to kill Lydia, even though she's definitely not the kanima," Stiles told her, shooting an irritated look to Scott.

"She didn't pass the test," Scott reminded him. "She didn't get paralyzed, and a snake can't be poisoned by its own vemon."

"It can't be her," Skyler chipped in.

"Why not?"

"'Cause she just can't," Skyler answered after a long moment of thought.

"It doesn't matter, because Derek thinks it's her," Allison pointed out. "So either we can convince him that he's wrong, or we've got to figure out a way to protect her."

"As much as it pains me to admit, I agree with Allison," Skyler admitted. "Derek tends not to think or listen to anybody before he acts."

"Well, I really don't think he's gonna do anything here, not at school," Scott said.

"What about after school?" Allison replied. "What if we can prove that Derek's wrong?"

"By three o'clock?" Stiles asked sceptically.

"There could be something in the bestiary," Allison suggested.

"Oh, you mean the nine hundred page book written in archaic Latin that none of us can read?" Stiles continued on. "Good luck with that."

"Actually, I think I know someone who might be able to translate it."

"Uh, I can talk to Derek, maybe convince him to give us a chance to prove that it's not her," Scott offered.

"Not to be rude," Sky butted in. "But Derek doesn't seem to particularly like you, and he's kind of unlikely to listen to any of us."

"Look, just let me try, but if anything happens, you guys let me handle it, okay?" Scott finished.

"What does that mean?" Allison asked quickly, sounding offended.

"That you can't heal like I do," Scott explained softly. He moved closer to Allison and both Sky and Stiles felt the need to avert their eyes. "I just don't want you to get hurt."

"I can protect myself," she insisted, reaching into her bag and pulling out a small compact crossbow. Scott flinched slightly, giving her a concerned look. She placed the crossbow down on a table and moved closer to Scott. "What? Did something happen?"

Scott stepped into her, making the scene much more intimate and started to speak quietly, telling her to call or text him if anything happened. Skyler wandered away for a minute to give them some privacy. She stood by the window, peering through the blinds to scan the parking lot. She couldn't see the black Camaro anywhere, but it was just as likely that Derek could've run there from wherever he was squatting now. There was a loud twang and Skyler jumped in fright, turning to see what had caused the noise. Scott had his hand wrapped around a quivering arrow, held several inches in front of Allison's face. Stiles was clutching the crossbow that was aimed at his friend's head, looking sheepish.

"Ah. Sorry," he apologised, grinning bashfully. "Sorry. Sensitive trigger on that."

"I'll, uh, take that back now," Allison inched towards him nervously and plucked the crossbow out of his hands. "I'm gonna go and see can I get those pages translated." She gave Scott a quick kiss and left the room, checking either way for Isaac or Lydia first.

"We'll go get Lydia," Skyler said. "The appointment should be over soon and then we can just find somewhere to hide out."

"Take her to my house," Scott suggested. "It's pretty obvious so it's the last place that Derek would look. If everything goes okay, I'll call you. If not then, just stay inside. Call Allison's dad or something."

"Won't he kill you if he finds out that Allison's still involved in all this?" Stiles asked his friend.

"Yeah, but better he kills me than Derek kills all of you to get to Lydia," Scott reasoned. "Agreed?"

"Alright," Stiles said after some deliberation. "Be careful." He grabbed Skyler's hand and made his way to the door.

"Look after yourself," Sky added.

"You two stay safe," Scott replied, and watched them leave.

Skyler's heart was thudding in her chest as the stood in the nearly clear hallways. She couldn't see Erica and Isaac, but that did not mean that they weren't there somewhere, lurking. She threaded her fingers through Stiles' and tugged him in the direction of Morrell's office, neither one bothering to make conversation. The seats were all empty when they reached the waiting area and they threw themselves down, Skyler letting out the breath she had been holding since their earlier chemistry class.

"So, uh, what were you and Isaac talking about?" Skyler asked after an uncomfortable silence. "In class?"

He cast his eyes down, avoiding her question and gaze. "Did Derek... Did Derek really turn up in your room after you got back from the hospital?"

"Uh, yeah. He did." Skyler was sure she had told Stiles that at some point, there was no reason that she would keep that to herself.

"And he offered you the bite?"

"Yeah, that happened," she confirmed. "Why?"

"And you told him you'd consider it?" Stiles asked hoarsely.

"No! No, I did not!" Skyler's eyebrows shot to her hairline, jerking her hand out of Stiles'. "I never said anything of the sort. "Why would you think that?"

"Issac said-"

"Oh, and you believed Isaac?" Skyler snapped, irritated that Stiles would listen to anything that he had to say.

"Not exactly, but I know that you and Derek have something, you guys are friends or whatever," Stiles explained, still not looking at her. "And I know that you said no to Peter, but I thought it would be different with Derek."

"Listen to me," Skyler placed a hand on his cheek, tilting his head up and moving it to face her. "I have never considered, I did not consider, and I will never consider, joining Derek's pack." That was a small white lie. "And even if I did, I would come to you and talk to you. I swear."

"I don't like the idea of Derek wanting you in that way," Stiles grumbled.

"I don't think he wants me in any particular way," Sky protested. "He doesn't want anyone in particular. He just wants numbers, the people don't mean anything to him. He probably thought that I would be the easiest to manipulate."

Stiles pulled her forward into a hug, resting his head on her shoulder and slinging his arms around her back. She tucked her head into his neck and rested her hands on his arms, running them up and down soothingly.

"Can I help you two?" Morrell was standing in the doorway of her office, watching them with a raised brow.

"Oh, we're just waiting for Lydia," Skyler said, jumping apart from Stiles.

"Lydia Martin?" Morrell asked, tilting her head to the side inquisitively. "She left five minutes ago."

"Shit." Skyler dug in her pocket for her phone, checking for any new texts or missed calls. Nothing from anyone yet. "Goddamn it, Lydia." She speed dialled Lydia, hands shaking.

"Heya," Lydia answered quietly after a few rings.

"Where the hell are you?" Sky snapped down the phone.

"Library, so keep your voice down," Lydia admonished her.

"For Christ's sake, just stay there," Sky said. "I'll be there in a minute." She hung up the phone. "Come on."

She stood, beckoning Stiles. They both nodded to Morrell as they passed by, breaking into a sprint once they were out of the waiting area in front of the offices. The corridors were mercifully empty and it was easy to make their way to the school library. Lydia was sat alone at a table, reading over notes and flipping her hair every few seconds. Sky and Stiles darted over to her, skidding to a halt next to the table. Stiles practically collapsed on the table, chest heaving and face flushed. Skyler bent double, hands on her knees, taking in massive breaths.

"What is wrong with you two?" Lydia asked, watching them panting with amusement all over her face.

"We ran all the way from Morrell's office," Sky explained, annoyance with the world growing with every breath. "Where you said you would be."

"It seemed like a stupid idea to sit and wait for you when I could study," Lydia told her, turning back to the book.

"Well did Isaac or Lydia try to talk to you?" Skyler pulled out the chair next to her and dropped into it.

"No. And why do you hate them so much?" Lydia wondered out loud. "I mean, sure. Erica's tacky as hell and Isaac's just as weird as he always was, but seriously? Avoiding them?"

"Yeah, avoiding them," Sky insisted, reaching over and closing the book. "And we're done here."

"I was reading that," Lydia complained.

"And now you can read it at Scott's house, we're having a study group there," Skyler said, tucking the book into her bag and standing up. "Come on." She tapped Lydia on the shoulder.

"I don't want to go to Scott's," Lydia told her simply, but followed her lead and stood up. She strode out of the library, Scott and Skyler right on her heels. Allison was waiting outside the library doors for them, and fell into step as they passed.

"That's where we're going," Skyler insisted.

"If we're doing a study group, why didn't we just stay in the library?" Lydia asked sweetly.

"Because we're meeting up with somebody else." Stiles spoke for the first time since they had left Morrell's office.

"Hmm, well," Lydia considered for a moment. "Why don't they just meet us in the library?"

"Oh, that would've been a great idea," Stiles pretended to lament the fact that he hadn't come up with that idea. "Too late."

Lydia stopped short, braking in the middle of the hallway. Stiles and Skyler nearly slammed into her back. "Okay, hold on-"

Someone shoved between Sky and Stiles, moving them out of the way. "Lydia, shut up and walk." Jackson had appeared out of nowhere, barreling through the students that had started to fill up the corridors. He gripped Lydia's arm and hauled her along with him.

"Never thought I'd say this, but thank God for Jackson," Sky hissed out of the side of her mouth.

"I'm still not saying it," he replied, scurrying after Jackson and Lydia.

The group made their way to the parking lot, Sky and Stiles still peering around them, looking out for any signs of Derek or his pack.

"I'm not getting in that," Lydia pointed a disgusted finger at Roscoe.

"You have to," Jackson snarled.

"I drove you this morning, I can drive you now," Sky pointed out.

"Your car is slightly less horrendous, so I'll go with you," Lydia decided, pointing towards the Impala.

"We'll meet you there," Skyler called to Stiles, steering Lydia to her car by the shoulders.

Skyler unlocked the car, waiting until Lydia was in the passenger seat, and everyone else was in the Jeep before she climbed into the car and started the engine.

"Why are you guys being so weird?" Lydia asked as she picked at her nails.

"We're not being weird, you're being weird," Skyler muttered absentmindedly, trailing the Jeep out of the parking lot and turning in the direction of Scott's house.

"I may be acting slightly weird, but you guys are perpetually weird," Lydia said. "I don't understand how you can keep it up. It must be a constant struggle to achieve this level of weirdness in your everyday life."

"You can call us weird, but we're not the ones going to the guidance counsellor or freaking out in class," Skyler spoke bluntly. "Something's going on with you, and you need to talk about this."

"I don't need to-"

"No, you don't want to," Skyler corrected her. "That's a totally different thing altogether. What happened in Econ today was serious Lyds. And it wasn't just a daydream. You were writing 'help me' all over the board."

"It was nothing," Lydia protested weakly.

"Why do you feel like you can't you talk to me about this?" Sky asked as they were paused at a red light. It was much easier to have this conversation when she wasn't looking at Lydia, that way she wouldn't have to see the strange distant look on her face that made Sky feel guilty for pushing the subject.

"Because I don't need to talk!" Lydia shriek suddenly, hands gripping at the seat.

"If it's upsetting you this much then you do need to talk about it and I don't care if you think I'm being pushy, it's my job as your friend to be pushy."

"Everything's gone so wrong," she whispered, a complete contrast to her little outburst. Her voice was shaking and she sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

"What, Lyds?" Sky asked softly. "What went wrong?"

"Jackson dumped me, then him and Allison went to the Formal, someone tried to kill me, I blacked out and got lost in the woods for two days, and now I can't stop seeing things that aren't there," Lydia explained in the same shaking tone. "I keep seeing this man. This man and sometimes his eyes are red and he has sharp teeth and I don't know what's happening."

That sounded much too much like Peter, or possibly Derek for Skyler to be comfortable. "And what does this guy look like?" She forced out, feeling sick to her stomach.

"What does it matter?" Lydia threw back. She wiped her eyes, careful not to smudge her eyeliner. "I don't know what he looks like, but I know one thing. The man I'm seeing, it's the guy who attacked me, I'm sure."

"Kate Argent attacked you," Skyler lied. She felt like there was ice dripping down her spine. She had thought that they had convinced Lydia that it was kate on the field that night, but they evidently hadn't been that successful.

"Whatever freak attacked me, bit me, and left a gaping hole in my side," Lydia pointed out frostily. "I met Kate. She wasn't capable of that."

"You never know what someone's capable of," Skyler argued.

"If you and Stiles and your weirdo buddies want me to say that it was Kate, then fine," Lydia retorted. "But I know better. The man I'm seeing is the one who tried to kill me. I might be having visions, but I'm not crazy."

"You need to talk through these things," Skyler insisted weakly. She couldn't think of any other reasonable explanation to explain why she needed to know who Lydia was seeing in her hallucinations.

"Talking through it isn't important, it's the fact that I'm having hallicinations and they need to stop," Lydia told her scathingly, taking deep breaths and trying to calm herself down. "And you will not tell anyone about this."

"Lydia, you have just admitted to having hallucinations, I am not going to keep this to myself," Skyler insisted, turning the wheel to the left and trying to keep the Jeep in sight. "Have you told Morrell or your mom yet?"

"No. They'll both freak out and I'll probably get sent to Eichen House." Lydia was rummaging through her bag looking for her lip gloss. "It's probably just a side effect of the medication. No, it's definitely just a side effect of the medication."

"You don't sound sure," Sky pointed out, raising an eyebrow and glancing sideways for a second. "And what's Eichen House?"

"Big old creepy home for crazy people," Lydia explained. "It's looks pretty awful. I assume Stiles will end up there some day."

"Aha. Very amusing," Sky laughed drily. "If any of us are ending up in mental hospital, it would be you. You have too much on your plate right now without keeping all this shit to yourself." They were at the end of Scott's street and Skyler could see the Jeep parked outside his house.

"You're being a parent right now," Lydia told her softly but in a horribly hurt tone. "I don't need a parent, I need a friend. I need someone to tell me that I'm not going crazy, and that will all be better soon."

Skyler drew the car to a stop behind Roscoe, watching Jackson, Stiles and Allison pour out onto the sidewalk. "Lydia, you have a fairly long way to go before you're okay. What you went through was serious," Skyler said. It almost physically pained her to be this honest. "And any and every time you see something that you have any cause to believe might not be there, anything even slightly out of the ordinary, I want you to call me. You are my best friend, Lydia, you are not going crazy, and, I promise, everything is going to be okay."

Lydia reached out and hugged her, something quite rare for the usually stone hearted girl. Skyler could feel her body quivering gently. What Lydia must have been feeling was terrifying and Sky could do nothing to help her other than just be there for her when she needed to talk. The tender moment was cut short when Jackson knocked curtly on the window and motioned for them to get out of the car. Sky rolled her eyes but followed her friend out of the car. She had momentarily forgotten the severity of the situation. Several homicidal werewolves were coming to kill Lydia. They surrounded the girl in question and shuffled as fast as they could towards Scott's front door without leaving any of Lydia open to attack.

"If we're studying at Scott's house, then where's Scott?" Lydia asked logically as they climbed the steps.

"Meeting us here, I think," Stiles replied. "I hope."

Skyler could hear Allison thanking Jackson for being there. Stiles ushered them in with a hurried hand before relocking the door with his own personal key. None of them knew why Stiles had his own key to Scott's house and all of them were too scared to ask. They congregated in the hall at the foot of the stairs, Skyler still standing resolutely by Lydia's side, while Allison and Jackson stood just to the side. Stiles glanced around before locking the deadbolt as well, and fastening the chain. Lydia watched him with utter dibelief.

"Uh, there's been a few break ins in the neighbourhood." Stiles lied once he noticed the way she was watching him. He grabbed a chair and shoved it under the door handle. "And a murder. Yeah, it was bad."

"Lydia, follow me," Jackson commanded softly, moving away from Allison and towards the stairs. Lydia visibly tensed when he spoke to her, but trailed after him all the same. "I need to talk to you for a minute." They disappeared together, leaving Skyler, Stiles and Allison alone downstairs.

"Seriously? What is going on with everyone?" They heard Lydia mutter as they reached the stairs.

Skyler darted to the window the second they were out of sight, drawing the curtains and checking that it was locked before moving onto the next and the next.

"I'm gonna check the back door," Stiles told them, passing behind Skyler and slipping into the kitchen.

"Allison, make sure all the windows in the dining room are locked," Skyler instructed.

The girl nodded and ran to the first window on the left of the door. Sky looked around the room to see if there was anything else she could shove against the door. There was absolutely nothing that could be moved without werewolf strength and she cursed angrily under her breath. Stiles reentered the hallway, Allison joining them a moment later from the other side.

"I think we need to call Scott," she said in a quiet voice.

"Use my phone," Stiles replied, just as softly. It felt like any sudden noises would bring about an equally sudden attack from Derek's pack.

Allison stood apart from them, typing Scott's number into Stiles' phone with shaking fingers. There was a few seconds of silence before Scott picked up the phone. "It's me," she whispered.

"Are you alright?" Stiles asked urgently as Allison took another step away from them.

"I'm fine," Sky reassured him. "It's Lydia who's not."

"What happened?" He furrowed his brows. "Besides the obvious, of course." He waved a hand around, indicating that most of their lives consisted of something awful happening.

"She told me that she's been seeing things, stuff that isn't there," Sky told him, feeling a bit bad for betraying Lydia's trust. She had said that Skyler wasn't to tell anyone, but this was Stiles, even if he wasn't still in love with Lydia, he had her best interests at heart. "She said she's been seeing a man with red eyes and sharp teeth, and that she knows Kate didn't attack. She knows it was him. It was Peter. Even if she doesn't know exactly who he is."

"Oh, this is not. This is not good," Stiles muttered, running her hand over his head. He started to pace back and forth, stopping by the one of the windows on either side of the door. He pulled back the curtain and made a squeak.

"What? Stiles, what?" Skyler rushed to his side, placing a hand on his back. She peeked out around the curtain and squinted into the gathering gloom. "Stiles, I don't see anything."

He grasped the back of her head and turned it to face slightly to the right. In a yard across the street stood four blurry but unmistakable figures, half shrouded in darkness. She knew exactly who they were. Scott hadn't managed to convince Derek, and now he was here to kill Lydia. Allison was pressed nearly against the glass on the other side of the door, eyes wide and terrified.

"You need to get here," she said into the phone. "Right now."

She hung up and tossed the phone back to Stiles, who caught it with unusually fast reflexes. He tucked Sky behind him until the only way she could see out the window was to rest her head on his shoulder. It was a sweet gesture, but if any of the four got in the house, they were all fucked, regardless of who was standing closest to the door. Derek, with Erica, Isaac and Boyd in tow, stalked across the street. Sky had never seen him to animalistic while still in human form. He was practically prowling across Scott's front yard, watching the windows with a glint in his eye that looked like it was ready for a hunt.

"Oh, jeez," Stiles huffed, letting the curtain drop. "What are you doing?" Skyler followed his gaze to Allison who had her cell in her hand and was scrolling rapidly through her contacts.

I think...," Allison swallowed, looking like the decision was causing her physical pain. "I think I have to call my dad."

"No, but if he finds you here," Stiles protested. "You and Scott."

"I know. But what are we supposed to do?" Allison implored. There was so much pain in her voice at the thought of the selfless act that Sky had to feel bad for her. "They're not here to scare us, okay? They're here to kill Lydia."

"Ally," Sky called, usuing the nickname for the first time in weeks. "Are you sure? There are other ways out of this, there has to be."

"Skyler Grey, you are not going out there to talk with Derek," Stiles said firmly.

"I wasn't going to..." She wilted under his glare as Allison crouched and searched through her bag. "Alright, I was. But Derek's not going to kill me. It's not me that he wants."

"Derek might have some kind of weird friendship truce thing with you, but I don't think that Erica, Isaac and Boyd extend the same courtesy." Stiles gripped her arm and tugged her away from the door. "You're staying in here and being marginally safer whether you like it or not."

She nodded grudgingly after a minute, realising that Stiles was right, but still not liking it. He let her return to the window, but she couldn't bring herself to look outside. Every time she did, her heart seemed to beat faster and faster. She was genuinely scared of what was happening right now.

"I got an idea," Stiles spoke up after a few tense seconds of silence. He gestured at the crossbow. "Just shoot one 'em."

"Are you serious?" Allison stared slightly open mouthed at him.

"We told Scott we could protect ourselves, so let's do it," Stiles said, suddenly all gung ho about shooting someone. "Or at least give it a shot, right?"

"Okay."

"No!" Skyler insisted. "No, we are not shooting them. What if we accidentally kill one of them on Scott's front lawn?!"

"We're not gonna kill one of them." Stiles scoffed at her hesitation. "They're werewolves, they'll heal." She pursed her lips at him and placed her hands on her hips. "Look, they don't think we're gonna fight, so if one of them gets hit, I guarantee they'll take off. So, we'll just shoot one of them," he told Sky soothingly, holding her shoulders. She considered for a moment, then nodded.

"Which one?" Allison asked, loading the bow.

"Uh." Stiles pulled back the curtain and looked out. "Derek," he decided. "Yeah, shoot him. Preferably in the head."

"No. No, not Derek," Sky cut across. "If you want me to agree to this then we are not shooting Derek. Shoot Erica, she's a total bitch."

"You know, we can do this without you agreeing," Stiles reminded her, regretting opening his mouth the second he saw Allison's 'Oh, Shit' face. He withstood her glare for ten seconds before ducking his head and apologising. "Sorry, yeah, right. Not Derek."

"It makes sense not to shoot him anyway," Allison pointed out. "If Scott was able to catch an arrow, Derek definitely can."

"Okay, uh, just shoot one of the other three then," Stiles said. His agitation was growing with every passing second coupled with the continued absence of Scott.

"You mean two," Allison pointed out, looking out through the window and counting the werewolves intently.

"No, I mean three," Stiles corrected her worriedly. He pressed his face to the window, Sky moving up behind him and resting her head on his shoulder to see the pack congregated on the front lawn. Some one was missing. "Where the hell's Isaac?"

They all stood in shocked silence for a few seconds, everyone sure of where Isaac had disappeared to. It was lucky that they were silent because if there had been any other sound, Sky would've missed the squeak of Isaac's shoe on the wood two seconds before he grabbed Allison by the shoulders and flung her to the floor. A moment later, Stiles shoved Skyler hard, sending her out of Isaac's way and stumbling into the living room. Stiles joined her soon after, sliding past her on his back across the floor.

Isaac growled at Sky, who had crouched down in front of Stiles' sprawled body. His eyes were the distinct amber colour of a beta, and his teeth were out and sharp, claws extended. He smirked mockingly at them before turning back to Allison who was scrabbling on the floor for the crossbow. Her finger wrapped around the handle in the same second that Isaac's placed his boot on the bow, trapping it against the floor. He crouched down on his haunches until he could talk to her on her level.

"Now, now, Allison," he said sweetly, tapping a finger off the crossbow. "Give me Lydia, and no one will need to use that. Are you going to cooperate?" Allison pursed her lips and didn't speak, glancing over his shoulder a few times to see Sky on her hands and knees, crawling towards a vase on the coffee table. "I'm going to give you one more chance." He paused for a few seconds. "Alright, then. We'll do this the fun way."

He raised a hand back, claws flashing, but before he could tear Allison's face off, a ceramic vase connected with the back of his head. It was not a particularly violent collision, the vase didn't even break on impact, it only broke when it hit the floor, but it was enough to shock him and knock him sideways. Allison gripped the bow and scooted backwards, clambering to her feet.

"Allison, keep her safe," Skyler yelled, jabbing a finger towards the stairs. There was no need to use a name, they all know who she meant. Allison nodded quickly and darted towards the stairs, disappering upwards.

Isaac whipped his head around to her. His eyes were wide and almost amused. "You bitch," he muttered, almost like it was a compliment.

He paused for a second, still bent down. Then he lunged. Skyler let out an embarrassingly high pitched shriek and jumped backwards, tripping over Stiles, who was trying to stand up, in the process. They hit the ground together, rolling across the floor, skinning knees and elbowing each other. Isaac missed them by a few inches, bumping into a chest of drawers which rattled worryingly.

"Come on."

Stiles grabbed her hand and jumped to his feet, knocking several plates and glasses off the coffee table in his panic. He tugged her up after him, dragging her into the kitchen. They were both thanking whatever higher power there was that Scott's house was fairly open plan. They could make their way from one room to the other with relative ease. Issac hurdled the couch after them, hitting the door frame on his way into the kitchen. He was like a moose. They could run fast but corners proved a problem. His strength and power was great, but it was also hard to control.

Stiles hauled her around the island in the kitchen, trying to wrench open the back door but it was locked. He swore angrily, panic setting in. Sky was sure that Isaac could hear her heart beating almost out of her chest. Standing in a clearing with Peter Hale was scary, but being in close quarters with a transformed werewolf was petrifying.

Stiles placed a hand on top of her head and pushed her down, holding her in position. Isaac's claws embedded in the wood of the door above their heads. He grunted in frustration, tugging his claws back out as they ducked under his arm, sprinting into the TV room, over the back of the sofa and into the office room. Skyler slammed the door behind them.

"Keep going," she panted. "Get upstairs. Get to Lydia."

Stiles nodded at her, too exhausted to talk. It wasn't the running that was wearing them out. Well, not just the running at least. It was mostly the fear that was taking the air out of their lungs. They skirted the desk, wrenching open the other door in the room, the one that lead out into the hallway. It looked like the coast was clear but neither of them where stupid, Isaac hadn't nurst into the office yet, he could be anywhere in the house.

They slipped out of the door after a few seconds, creeping towards the foot of the stairs. Stiles kept his back pressed against the wall, Skyler keeping right on his tail. They were just breaking away from the wall, passing the entrance to the living room, when someone, presumably Isaac, grabbed the back of her head and forced it down. She only had a moment to mentally call him a prick before her face connected with the post at the bottom of the bannister, and her nose exploded in blinding pain.

"Oh, fucking hell!" She screamed.

She clutched at her face, fingers pressing against the bridge of her nose. It didn't feel broken but it hurt like a bitch and there was already a steady stream of blood running from both nostrils down over her mouth and chin. She struggled to open her eyes against the tears welling up. Stiles was shuffling backwards on the floor, making for the stairs. Isaac looked like he was enjoying this game, getting into the whole 'the thrill is in the chase' vibe. He wsa very unlike Derek, who liked getting straight to the point with the minimal amount of threatening and the maximum amount of violence.

"You asshole," she ground out, trying to look him in the eyes and tilt her head down at the same time.

"I told you guys to give me Lydia," Isaac said simply, like it was her fault.

"Go to hell," she snapped.

Now that Isaac was turned to her she could see Stiles start to inch away from the stairs and towards the living room. She tried to keep his attention on her, hurling insults at him and backing away slowly. Every step she took, Isaac matched her, his strides growing slightly bigger each time. She was pressed nearly against the wall, Isaac bearing down on her when Stiles started to army crawl back.

Isaac lifted a claw and traced Skyler's jugular, savouring the moment for a few seconds before jerking back in shock and pain. Stiles had stabbed a jagged piece of the shattered vase into Isaac's left calf. He tilted his head back and howled in anger, dropping to one knee as the blood from his leg started to flow out of the wound. He reached behind him and tried to grasp the slippering chunk of vase stil embedded in his leg.

Skyler skirted around him as he kept trying to pull out the makeshift blade. Stiles was waiting for her at the foor of the stairs, ready to head up and make one last ditch attempt to protect Lydia. They were only up a few steps when Isaac managed to dislodge the vase from his leg. He chucked the shard at the wall over their heads. It shattered into even smaller fragments of bloodstained clay. He snarled viciously at them, pulling his lips back over his teeth.

"I fucking warned you," he growled, prowling towards them.

He stepped into the path of the living room doorway, facing them. Stiles and Skyler stood side by side on one of the steps. They were the last line of defense. Allison hadn't come to their rescue yet, which meant that she was probably busy with one of the other werewolves, and even if Jackson had shown some small signs of caring about Lydia in the past few weeks, Skyler doubted that he would lay down his life for her. He raised his foot to take a step towards them, and Scott tackled him from side.

He seemed to emerge from the woodwork, peeling out of the shadows of the doorway and wrapping his arms around Isaac's waist, dragging him to the ground. They were grappling with each other, rolling over and over on the floor. There were claws flying and glinting in the light. They made contact several times but it was hard to see who was bleeding because of the speed at which they were moving. All Skyler and Stiles could see were several blood spatters flying all over the room.

"Scott's gonna have one hell of a clean up," Skyler muttered dumbly. She couldn't think of anything else to say. She moved down until she was three steps from the bottom, Stiles standing in front of her. Her hands were still pressed to her face, trying to stem the flow of blood which was starting to dry and crust on her lips.

"His mom really liked that vase," Stiles said absentmindedly.

Most of the dread had disappated. There was no way that Isaac could beat Scott. He had more experience and was much calmer than the newer wolf. Isaac was all flailing rage, Scott was cool, calm and collected. Derek wasn't teaching his new recruits very well at all. They stood together and watched as Stiles threw Isaac into every wall within throwing distance. After a minute or two of the battle, Isaac was struggling to stand and a quick elbow to the face knocked him on his back for good. Scott stood over him, panting and ensuring that he stayed down.

"You took your time," Stiles said shakily, stepping down and into the living room.

"Sorry, but is everyone okay?" Scott asked, eyes flickering between Sky and Stiles. "What the hell happened to your face?"

"Ask Isaac," she grunted in response. She was happy that her sweater was a crimson colour so that she could wipe her nose off of it.

"Lydia? And Allison?"

"Upstairs," Stiles told him. The aderenaline was ebbing away quickly and all of them were absolutely exhausted now. "We can go get-"

"Sky, get out of the way!"

Skyler jumped down the last few stairs and skidded to the right as Allison shouted at her. A few seconds later, Erica's prone body came sliding down the stairs, head first and face down. She reached the bottom and slid onto the floor.

"What?" Sky asked, pointing a finger at the girl.

"The kanima's here somewhere," Allison explained. "There was the goo upstairs, so I put some on this." She held up a slimey arrow, pinching one of the feathers between two fingers. "And I couldn't carry her down the stairs so..." She made a sliding motion with her hand.

"Even when you're paralyzed, you're a goddamn nuisance," Sky muttered at Erica. She replied, but it was muffled by the floor.

"Allison, is there any venom left?" Scott asked.

"Just the stuff on the arrow."

"May I have the pleasure?" Sky piped up.

She turned to Scott, already knowing what was going through his head. He nodded and she pulled her jumper off, wrapping it around her arm. She took the end of the arrow in her covered hand. Isaac was still laying on the ground, glaring at all of them, as Sky crouched down next to him. His nose was placed invitingly in the middle of his face. She pulled her hand back and brought the arrow down hard on his face. He let out a grunt, but didn't say anything else.

"Are Derek and Boyd still here?" Stiles was very tactful as he ignored the malice in Skyler's swing.

"Yeah," Scott confirmed.

He pulled Isaac by the legs into the hall and dropped him next to Erica. They could all see Isaac's body starting to sieze up as he lay on the floor. Scott wrenched open the front door before grabbing Isaac by the collar and throwing him bodily out of the house. Erica followed a few seconds later. They landed a few inches in front of Derek. Scott stepped out onto the porch, followed closely by Allison, Stiles and Skyler at the back, arms wrapped around each other's waists.

Derek's eyes flickered down to his pack members at his feet then back to the group by the door. He locked eyes with Skyler and looked confused. "What happened to your nose?" He looked down at the two young paralyzed werewolves. "Which one of them was it?"

"Fuck. Off. Derek."

He gave her a knowing half smile. He was well aware that she couldn't stay mad at him for long because sooner or later they needed to use him for werewolf knowledge and advice and she would be the one that came to see him becuase no one else would. He turned his attention to Scott.

"I think I'm finally getting why you keep refusing me, Scott," he called out in a friendly tone of voice. "You're not an omega, you're already an Alpha, of your own pack." He eyes faded from forest green to crimson and his voice deepened. "But you know you can't beat me."

Scott waited for a second, as if for a cue. "I can hold you off until the cops get here." Sirens started to wail faintly in the distance.

"Who called the cops?" Stiles asked frantically. Skyler knew that he was thinking of his father.

"Lydia, probably," Allison whispered. "I told her someone was trying to break in."

"Get them out of here," Derek told Boyd, nodding towards Isaac and Erica.

He moved to walk away, but there was an odd creaking sound from above them that made Derek stop. His eyes darted to the roof of the porch and widened. Scott hurried down the porch steps to stand on the lawn. Allison darted after him a few seconds later and Sky raced after her, Stiles in tow. They fell into line next to Scott, everyone peering up at the roof through the darkness.

The kanima was crawling across the tiles of the porch roof. It hadn't changed since she had seen it at the pool, but it seemed somehow much scarier. Probably because this was such a mundane place for a lizard looking werejaguar to appear. She associated this house with Melissa and take away food and hoework and the boys. Now it felt like the kanima had smeared goo all over the fond memories. It screeched at

"Maybe it is Lydia," Stiles hissed in Skyler's ear.

"It looks like it came out of Scott's bedroom," she pointed out. The window was open and from the angle and way that it was moving, it looked like the kanima had just crawled out the window and onto the roof. "Lydia was upstairs."

"What do we do if it's her?" Stiles whispered in her ear.

"Protect her," Stiles decided. "And trying to find a cure. Something to make her better."

"Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on?"

Everyone's head snapped up to stare at the front door. Lydia was standing in the door frame. Her hair was frizzy, coat slightly askew, mascara smeared from tears that had left black tracks down her cheeks. Skyler was mirroring practically everyone else on the lawn, eyes dancing between Lydia and the kanima. They had just confirmed that Lydia was the kanima, so what the hell was going on? Sky's brain just could not compute how she could be on the porch and on the roof.

Lydia couldn't be the kanima. Not unless the kanima and the human side could split, which, at this point, would not surprise her. Not unless one of the other people in the house was the kanima and it could split from it's human side. But Allison, Scott, Stiles and Skyler were the only other people in the house and surely one of them would know they were the kanima. There were the only people in the house other than...

The answer hit Skyler with the force of a wrecking ball in the same instant that it dawned on Stiles, and a moment after Scott understood. Skyler could even see Allison tense out of the corner of her eye. She raised her gaze back to the roof, watchng as the kanima disappeared around the chimney stack. Thankfully Derek and the others didn't know exactly who was in the house with them, so he hopefully wouldn't be trying to kill the boy anytime soon. Even Skyler had completely forgotten about him being there.

Skyler felt sick. She leaned into Stiles' side, gripping at his shirt for stability. finding out that Derek's uncle was the Alpha was terrifying enough, but finding out the kanima was someone she knew was the kanima surpassed it by miles. He had gone bowling with her, gone to the cinema, to the diner, sat next to her at lunch and in class, he had stayed at her house. He was the kanima. _He_ was the kanima. He was the _kanima_. She couldn't even bring herself to say his name out loud, so Scott did it for her.

"It's Jackson."


	10. His Kind Of Club

_**Hey guys, I'm back! I took a break from writing for a while 'cause I was going back to school and it's my last year so things are already pretty intense but I had some free time over the weekend and decided that it was time for another chapter. Thanks to everyone who followed or favourited me or the story, and a massive thanks to everyone who reviewed. Reviews are what keeps me writing. I especially love hearing from you guys about the Derek-Skyler-Stiles dynamic because I'm not really sure where I'm gonna take that yet. R &R and most of all, enjoy! Xx**_

It still hadn't sunk in for either Skyler or Stiles that Jackson was the kanima. A boy they had known, in Stiles' case, for years. For Skyler, she hadn't known Jackson quite as long but she had known him much better.

"Is it definitely Jackson, though?" Stiles asked sceptically after a long period of complete silence other than Skyler's directions.

"It seems so. I don't know who else it could be," Skyler said, keeping her eyes on her phone.

Since the night of the formal, when Stiles had figured out Scott's username and password for his phone, they had been able to track the young werewolf when he had been on his night time jaunts. They were using it now. Derek had taken off after the kanima, leaving Boyd to heft Erica and Isaac onto the Camaro parked down the street. Scott had been hot on his tail moments later. Stiles had hesitated for a few seconds before darting to the jeep, Skyler following, shouting over her shoulder for Allison to take Lydia home. Now there were following Scott, or his phone at least, through the industrial area of Beacon Hills. Stiles was freaking out every second minute because her nose was still dripping every so often.

"Maybe Jackson left the house and it was someone else that just happened to be at Scott's house," Stiles suggested weakly.

"Not even you believed that," Sky scoffed, glancing over at him.

"No, but it was worth a try."

"Left up here."

Stiles took a hand brake turn scratching his wing mirror against a chain link fence. Skyler flinched, and swore that she would never let Stiles drive her car. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, telling her that she had a text.

"It's Allison," she told him, unlocking the screen. "Lydia's home and safe. Ally doesn't think she's going to say anything about what happened, but we need to come up with some explanation or she's gonna go nuts trying to work out what's going on."

"She's already going nuts from what you told me," Stiles reminded her. "She's hallucinating. She's seeing Derek, or more likely Peter. She says she knew that it wasn't Kate that attacked her, so she knows that, in some way, we're lying to her. Is that everything?" Stiles furrowed his brow for a second. "Oh, that's right. And her boyfriend's a murderer killing lizard monster. Great."

"Yeah, it's kind of a total clusterfuck right now," Sky agreed and pointed to the right. "Down that alley."

"Has she told Morrell any of this?" Stiles asked, following her instructions.

"What do you think? She'd sound insane." Sky kept staring out the window, watching for signs of the kanima in the darkness. "And she wouldn't accept help from Morrell anyway. You know what she's like."

"I don't actually," he corrected her. "I might have been interested in her-"

"Stalked her."

"Been interested in her for years, but I don't really know her," Stiles admitted. "I mean, I know that she's smart but she hides it, she's hot, she can be funny, really nice to be around when she's not being evil-"

"Uh, Stiles, remember when you found out that Derek came to visit me, and you thought that we had something so you got Scott to talk to me about it, and it made you feel like shit, and you still feel kind of insecure around him?" Stiles nodded apprehensively. "Well that's how I feel when you talk about Lydia."

"Oh, right, sorry, God. I'll shut up. I'm shutting up. This is me, all shut up." Stiles ducked his head down, then realised that that was a stupid thing to do while driving and straightened up again.

"No, Stiles, I wasn't trying to make you feel bad," Sky explained soothingly. "I was just letting you know. After all, communication is the key to a healthy relationship."

"And do we have a healthy relationship?" Stiles asked somewhat nervously.

"Absolutely not. We haven't even had our first date, you took my best friend to a school formal dance, our relationship is completely based on mutual fear of being eaten by werewolves, food and television." Sky tucked one foot under her, watching Stiles' amused smile. He knew that she was only joking. "It's also based on the fact that we have most classes together and that means that you can carry my books for me. Oh, and you give good presents, I like that in a boyfriend." She fingered the dream catcher necklace that Stiles had bought for her, and that she had taken to wearing.

"Oh, and that's it?"

"That's it, babe," she said with a grin. "Our relationship is so unhealthy, it's the relationship form of eating McDonalds each day for seven years and never exercising."

"Well we have our first date tomorrow night," Stiles reminded her. "That could be like a workout. Get a bit more healthy, move it down to six and a half years of McDonalds."

"If our date is any actual exercising, I will break up with you on the spot," Skyler threatened him. "Two lefts."

"It is not exercising, I promise you," Stiles said with a grin. "Just dress comfortably."

"I don't like that I don't know what's happening," she grumbled, but she appreciated everything that he was doing for her and she knew he was trying to make it special. Most selfless people in this situation would say, 'There's so much going on right now, maybe we should postpone the date', but Skyler was not selfless, and she felt like she deserved a break. "Alright, park up here."

They were in the back parking lot of a large warehouse with music blaring from the upper windows. She didn't think that she had been here before, but she could guess fairly easily that it was a club. Scott was visible near the fence surrounding the lot. Sky and Stiles slipped out of the Jeep and jogged over. They were nearly on top of Scott before he realised that they were there. Stiles was less than a foot behind him when he turned.

"Holy cr..." Scott clutched at his heart, breathing deeply because of the fright of seeing Stiles there.

"Wha...," Stiles looked at him confusedly for a second before he understood what he had done. "Sorry, I'm sorry. Did you see where he went?"

"It's a 'he' now?" Skyler asked in disbelief. Okay, so it was actually Jackson, but it was also the kanima and she couldn't bring herself to call it 'he'.

"It's Jackson," Scott said irritably. "And no, I lost him."

"What? You couldn't catch his scent?" Stiles screwed up his nose.

"I don't think he has one," Scott explained.

"All right, any clue where he's going?"

"To kill someone," Scott suggested flatly.

"Ah. That explains the claws, and the fangs, and all that." Stiles nodded and pursed his lips. "Good. Makes perfect sense now." Scott raised his eyebrows at him, and Skyler huffed in irritation. "What? Guys, come on. I'm a hundred and forty seven pounds of pale skin and fragile bone, okay? Sarcasm is my only defense."

"How do you have any friends?" Sky asked him lovingly.

"Just help me find it," Scott implored.

"Not 'it', Jackson," Stiles reminded Scott of what he had said to Skyler a minute ago.

"Yeah, I know, I..." Scott rubbed a hand over his face, tiredly. "I know."

"All right, but does he know that?" Stiles asked, starting to hop from foot to foot. "Did anybody else see him back at your house?"

"I mean, I don't think so," Scott said.

"Did Derek know that it was Jackson?" Sky asked. She was peering around at the warehouse. It was starting to look familiar and she could've sworn that she had been here before. "Because he would kill him."

"No. No, probably not," Scott reasoned. "Jackson already passed Derek's test, so why would he think that it was him."

"Yeah, but that's the thing," Stiles pointed out, confusedly. "How did he pass the test?"

"I don't know," Scott admitted.

"Maybe it's like an either or thing," Stiles suggested as Sky craned her neck and looked around.

"Yeah," she agreed. "Like Derek said, a snake can't be poisoned by its own venom."

"And when is the kanima not the kanima?" Stiles continued for her.

"When it's Jackson," Scott finished.

"Uh, guys."

Sky was staring up at the corner of the warehouse, watching intently. The kanima was crawling slowly around the corner of the building, roughly sixty feet above the ground. Skyler screwed up her nose at the idea of Jackson being that thing. She was pretty sure that it looked at them for a few seconds before scuttling in through the window.

"He's inside," Scott breathed out.

"Thank you, Sherlock, I hadn't noticed," Sky drawled.

"What's he gonna do in there?" Stiles asked.

Scott's head tilted upwards and he sniffed the air. "I know who he's after."

"What, how? How?" Stiles was frantic. "Did you smell something?"

"Armani."

"What?" Sky said after an insanely confused silence. "He's after Armani?"

"No, no, no," Scott waved his hands. "He's after Danny. Danny wears Armani."

"Alright, I'm just gonna say it," Sky looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "It's fuckin' weird that you know that."

"I just smelled him once at practice, Sky."

"That makes it worse."

"Alright, it doesn't matter how Scott managed to smell Danny," Stiles interrupted. "We need to get inside."

They hurried over to the only door that they could see in the corrugated metal side of the warehouse. Stiles rattled the handle, groaning as he realised that it was locked. Skyler didn't know what else he had expected.

"Aw, come on," he groaned. He took a few steps backwards, looking up. "All right, maybe there's, like, a, uh... like, a window we could climb through..." He babbled on mindlessly as Scott stepped up to the door.

"Could you pull that off?" Sky flicked the door handle with a fingernail. Scott grinned at her and closed his fist around the handle.

"Or some kind of..." Stiles trailed off at the horrible sound of crunching metal. Scott stood there with a self satisfied grin and the door handle in his hand. "Handle that we could rip off with supernatural strength. How'd I not think of that one?"

Scott pushed the door open and slid inside, Sky and Stiles behind him. They were in a short corridor with bathroom doors on either side and an unmarked door at the other end. Scott lead them down the hallway, keeping close to the wall. They reached the door and Scott paused for a second before bursting through and into the large open space of the warehouse. Sky realised why the parking lot had been so familiar. She had been here before with Danny.

There was a bar at the other side of the room, shelf upon shelf of drinks lining the walls. Men in tight shirts were serving behind the counter. There was a raised platform to the left, a DJ booth and record decks set up. Pulsing lights and multicoloured disco balls spun and flashed behind the platform in time to the thumping music. Men were dancing and grinding all across the floor, women too, but a much smaller number of them, maybe one woman to each ten or fifteen men. She crossed to the bar, Scott at her side, scanning the room as he went. Stiles was a few steps behind them. They were stood a few feet from the bar when the reason for the man to woman ratio dawned on Scott.

"Dude, everyone in here's a dude," he called out to Stiles, turning back to face him. "I think we're in a gay club."

"Man, nothing gets past those keen werewolf senses, huh, Scott?" Stiles replied in a mocking congratulatory voice, shouting slightly to be heard over the music. He was stood in a circle of bright, colourful, larger than life drag queens, each one of them reaching out to stroke some part of Stiles' body.

Sky grinned widely, taking in every inch of the delightful scene.

"Can you guys just stay like that for a minute, please?" Sky asked politely, reaching into her bra for her phone. She held it up to them and snapped a quick picture before grabbing Stiles' hand and pulling him away. "Sorry, ladies, but we have business to attend to."

"Well you seemed overly happy with that attention," Scott noted. He was leaning on the bar, smirking at the pair of them.

"You're catnip in a gay club," Skyler said jokingly. "Should I be worried?"

"Nope," Stiles replied with a smile. "I'm all about you."

"That's so disgustingly cheesy that it's almost romantic, but it was also a terrible line," she told him scornfully. "Points for trying though."

He shrugged happily like had tried his best and was proud of the job that he had done. He sauntered over to the bar, trying to look as cool as possible. He leaned on the counter on one elbow and cocked an eyebrow at the bartender. "Three beers." He held up three fingers.

"IDs?" The man asked. Scott and Stiles both rummaged in their pockets for the fake IDs that they had had made up a few months ago. Skyler hadn't brought hers, so she hung back and let Stiles order for her. The barman appraised the IDs with a raised eyebrow, obviously just humouring them by pretending to consider serving them. He smiled condescendingly and slid the IDs ack across the bar. "How 'bout three Cokes?" He asked, not unkindly before turning away and pulling out three glasses.

"Rum and Coke? Sure." Stiles pushed, grinning jauntily. The bartender threw down a few napkins, three full glasses of Coke followed a few seconds later. "Coke's fine actually," Stiles conceded, pcking up his drink and handing the second one to Skyler. "I'm driving anyway."

"That one's paid for," the man behind the counter told them, pushing the last drink towards Scott. He jerked his head to the right, indicating a cute guy about their age at the other end of the bar who raised his drink in salute. Scott turned away, smirking in a self-satisfied manner.

"Oh, shut up," Stiles snapped at his friend.

"I didn't say anything," Scott protested, barely trying to hide his smile.

"Yeah, well, your face did," Stiles grumbled. He faced the dance floor, pressing his front against Skyler's back. She sipped her drink through a straw and searched the crowd for Danny.

"I found him," she called to the other two after a minute, catching sight of her friend grinding and swaying with a tall, dark guy wearing a shirt that wasn't much better than being actually shirtless. "What are we gonna do? Grab him and drag him out? Dance in a circle around him?"

"I'll stay near him, protect him," Scott offered. "You guys- I found Jackson."

Skyler and Stiles' eyes snapped up to the roof where Scott was pointing. The kanima was clinging to a corner of the roof, tail swishing back and forth, trailing across the ceiling. Its amber eyes were roving across the crowd, presumably searching for Danny.

"And I found Derek," Sky whispered. He was across the floor, eyes glowing red. She didn't think that he knew they were there, or he would've been next to them, threatening and demanding to know who the kanima was. Sky was unsure of whether or not the boys had heard her, but maybe it was better if they hadn't. The last thing she needed right now was the boys starting up when they were trying to protect Danny.

"Get Danny," Scott instructed, head down.

"What're you gonna do?" Stiles asked. Scott raised his head again and his eyes were gold, claws extended and glinting in the bright lights. "Works for me," Stiles said simply.

Stiles snagged Skyler's wrist with his finger tips, both placing their empty glasses on the counter. He started to tug her in the direction of her friend, bobbing up and down, side to side to keep Danny in their sights.

"Wait, Stiles," Sky dug her heels in and pulled him to a halt. "Look, Derek's here. And it's gonna kick off if he thinks we know who it is. I'm going to talk to him and try to calm him down a a bit, okay?"

"Okay, go. Be careful." Stiles said, letting go of her hand and darting off into the crowd with only a quick glance over his shoulder.

Sky had thought that he would've fought her on it a bit more seeing as he couldn't stand Derek. They seemed to have some sort of a grudging respect for each other however. Stiles accepted and appreciated the fact that Skyler was friends with Derek and that he was a fundamentally good person, even though fifty percent of his choices were the wrong ones. And Derek seemed to understand that Stiles was brave and that, for someone who was just human, he could look after himself and every choice Stiles made was to protect the people he cared about. But they were also chalk and cheese. Black and white. Night and day. And Sky cared about them both for different reasons.

Stiles cared about her, romantically, and still platonically in some ways. They were still more like best friends than girlfriend and boyfriend. He worried about her as well, a bit too much sometimes. Other than that, they had so much in common that every so often it felt like they had the same brain and it was kinda spooky. She knew that, in a situation that called for it, Stiles would lay down his life for her or Scott or his father or any of his friends, and she loved that about him. He was sweet and kind and a small bit broken and falling apart in places but that was okay, because Sky was a bit broken too. He understood the situation she was in after her mother's death, and he helped her with it. He was human and humans had cracks in their shell.

On the other hand, Derek was a giant crumbling wreck. He didn't have cracks, he had massive chunks missing. Unlike Stiles, he didn't wear his heart on his sleeve and he put on a mask. Derek pretended to be selfish and careless, but Sky knew that there were some people that he would die for. And whether or not the others believed it, Sky did think that he in some way cared for the members of his pack. Skyler had said several times that they were just numbers, that they meant nothing, but his efforts to force her to accept the bite made her think that there might be more to it than she had previously thought. He wanted people he trusted and possibly even liked to be part of his group it seemed.

He was harsh and angry and unforgiving and ready to kill, but he didn't seem to relish the idea of taking someone's life. He was brutal and honest and sharp and unflinching, the opposite of Stiles. And Derek cared about her too, but he cared about her while still understanding and acknowledging that she could look after herself, which was something Stiles couldn't do sometimes. He was snappy and sarcastic and never took anything she said to heart. He was so dark and lonely and mysterious, and she couldn't deny that it was alluring and it was one of the reasons that she couldn't keep away from him completely. He was like a werewolf Heathcliff. And to be honest, if Stiles truly hadn't been an option, Skyler would've probably considered Derek. Probably would've gone after Derek.

She shoved her way into the crowd, wriggling between couples and pushing single people out of her way as gently as possible. Derek was prowling around the edge on the dance floor, keeping his eyes peeled for any sign of the kanima. Skyler wriggled her way through the last few feet of the crowd before stumbling out the other side and nearly colliding with Derek.

"Oh for God's sake," he huffed, rolling his eyes. "Why are you here?"

"For a good time."

"Where is it?"

"I don't know," she lied, hoping that the music was so loud that it drowned out her heart jumping slightly.

"And how did you know it was here?" He asked disbelievingly. He was leaning against a wall, to someone who didn't know him, Derek looked like he was on a night out, waiting for his boyfriend, but Skyler could see that he was anything but relaxed.

"Scott followed it here, just like you did," Sky told him.

"Did Scott tell you that he followed it here after a fire fight with the Argents?" He asked, still barely looking at her. "And that they both emptied several clips into the kanima. It did nothing. That thing just got up and ran." Sky didn't say anything, unsure at what Derek was getting at. "If you know who it is, and you're protecting them, then you're putting everyone around you in danger. If it kills someone, then that's on you."

"I'm not forcing him to kill anyone," she sniped back, crossing her arms over her chest.

"So it's a him," Derek asked, smirking.

"No. No. I just meant-" Skyler swore angrily in her head. She had just given Derek enough information to narrow it down to about fifty percent of the population of Beacon Hills. "It was a generalisation, asshole."

He raised an eyebrow at her, smiling almost fondly at her. She took a deep breath in through her nose, and blew it out again, glaring at the floor. Neither of them mentioned the fact that Derek had been ready to kill her best friend an hour or two ago. Or that his Beta had nearly broken her nose and Derek hadn't seemed happy in the least about it. Protectve Derek made Skyler feel all kinds of tingly.

"Just tell me who it is," he said softly. If anyone else had used that tone then she would've called it pleading, but there was a hint of a threat in his voice.

"I don't-"

There was a thumping sound behind them, barely audible over the music, but it registered with Derek and Sky spun to see what had attracted his attention. Skyler couldn't work out what it was until a man about fifteen feet away from them dropped like a rock. After a few seconds, another person, a few spaces beyond the man they had just seen fall, hit the ground in a similar manner. Sky glanced over her shoulder to warn Derek that the kanima was here, in case he wasn't already aware, but he was gone. She groaned and tugged on the ends of her hair.

Was Jackson paralyzing everyone in his immediate area, looking for Danny. Why did he want to kill or paralyze his best friend? His only friend. Screams started to pierce the air as other patrons started to notice the random paralyzing epidemic that was spreading through the club. Skyler pushed up unto her tiptoes, peering over the heads of the crowd to see everyone streaming towards the exit.

"Stiles!" She roared at the top of her voice. "Scott! STILES!"

"Sky!"

Stiles' arm was up in the air, waving and beckoning. He was stood close to the exit that lead out to where the Jeep was parked. Skyler dove into the crowd, weaving between terrified customers, ducking and dodging. She nearly tripped over a young man, lying face down on the floor, crying out for help. Sky knew that she had to get out of there, try and find the kanima, but his sobs were so gut wrenching that she had to stop and do her best to flip him over. He flopped onto his back like a dead fish and started to thank her furiously over and over. She nodded and darted off as fast as possible, feeling guilty that she hadn't waited to help him further but the last thing she needed was to be seen at another crime scene. Her legs skidded on a puddle of spilled beer and Stiles had to catch her to stop her falling flat on her face.

"What the fuck's going on?" She gasped.

"Jackson, the kanima, he just started paralyzing people." Stiles glanced around hurriedly. "Danny got hit. He's alright, he's okay," he told her, seeing the worry on her face. "And someone called an ambulance, but we gotta go. Now."

"Where's Scott?" Sky shouted, still having to raise her voice because the DJ had left at a run without switching off the music.

"I think he's still trying to get Jackson under control." Stiles ushered her out past the toilets, shouldering the door open. "Where's Derek?"

"Disappeared," she ground out in irritation. "I don't think he knows who the kanima is, but I might have let slip that it was a he."

"And what did he say about trying to kill Lydia?"

"Oddly enough, it didn't come up. And he didn't kill her, anyway, and he's not going to. So let's not dwell on it."

Stiles shot her an unreadable look as they jogged across the parking lot, still trying not to get caught up in the crowd. There were several ambulances and cop cars already on the scene. Sky's head was starting to pound from the overthinking and the fear of being paralyzed and the seriously annoying music. The Jeep looked like a calm, shining haven from here. She nearly collapsed when they reached Roscoe, leaning against the spare tyre and pressing the heels of her hands into her eyes.

"Uh, guys."

Skyler dropped her hands away from her face, furrowing her brows at Stiles. They poked their heads around the side of the Jeep to the source of the voice. Scott was stood, one hand on the Jeep, bent over slightly, on the floor in front of him was Jackson. Jackson was lying on the cement, totally naked. Skyler made an 'ew' noise and screwed her eyes shut. She had heard Lydia talk about it and felt like she knew every inch of it, but she still did not feel the need to be personally acquainted with Jackson Whittemore's penis.

"Jesus Christ, Scotty," Stiles groaned. "What the hell did you do?"

"Knocked him out," Scott explained quietly. "Let's get him in the car."

"No. I am not having him in the car without clothes on," Stiles protested. "I do not want his naked body on any part of Roscoe."

"I'm not getting in car with Jackson if he's naked," Skyler backed him up, still refusing to even turn in the direction of Jackson.

"Well we can't just leave him there," Scott pointed out, then stopped for a few seconds and cocked his head to the side. "Sirens. Not just the ambulance, the cops. They're on their way."

Stiles made frustrated eye contact with him for a few seconds before groaning and saying, "Fine. Fine. Whatever." He hurried over to Jackson and gripped his ankles, gagging theatrically at what was hanging between his legs. Skyler scuttled around to the back of the Jeep, unlocking the boot and stepping back to make room. Stiles hoisted his feet into the boot before dancing out of the way and screwing up his face in disgust. Scott threw his torso in afterwards, wincing at the loud thump.

"Danny's fine, by the way," Scott told Skyler, leaning against the Jeep.

"What d'you mean?" She raised an eyebrow at Scott, straightening her jumper.

"Well after the kanima got him. He's fine. He got taken into an ambulance."

"The kanima got him?!" She screeched, making both boys jump in surprise.

"Didn't you know?" Stiles asked tentatively.

"How was I meant to know? Neither of you told me," she said.

"Well I talked to him and he's alright. So's his ex, even though he got paralyzed too," Scott comforted her.

His ex? Sky hadn't even known that he had broken up with Brian. She dropped her head into her hands and groaned. She had been worrying so much about Lydia and not having enough time for Lydia that she had completely forgotten about Danny. She hadn't spoken to him in days. Zach either, actually. She made up her mind in that second to set aside some time on the next few days to hang out with her boys.

"Oh, shit."

Sky looked up at Stiles' exclamation. "What?" She groaned. "What now? What could possibly have happened to make this night any worse than it already is?"

"That." The Sheriff was pulling into to the parking lot, looking tired and like he wanted to be anywhere else in the world but at a gay club dealing with a mass paralyzation. "Get in the Jeep. Get in the Jeep." Stiles shooed the two of them towards Roscoe, Scott scrambling into the front seat and over, falling into the back. "You go too," Stiles instructed, holding the door open for Skyler.

"No, come on," Skyler gripped his hand and tugged him over to his dad, who was just getting out of the car.

He was staring around at the cars and the flashing ambulance lights until his eyes fell on the pair of them, and his face dropped. Sky didn't think that he could look any less pleased if he had seen a dead body. "What're you two doing here?" He asked.

Sky opened her mouth to respond that they were here with Danny because he had just gone through a bad break-up, but Stiles started to speak before she had the chance. "What do you mean what are we doing here? What? It's a club." Stiles pointed at the entrance to the club, swinging his hands wildly to possibly indicate dancing. "It's a club, we were clubbing, y'know? At the club." Sky rolled her eyes so hard that it hurt a bit.

"Not exactly your type of club," his father pointed out dryly.

"Uh... Well, dad," Stiles took a deep breath and drew himself up. "There's a conversation that we-"

"You're not gay."

"Wha..." Stiles exclaimed, sounding offended and letting go of Sky's hand so that he could throw his arms out in disbelief. "I could be."

Sky's head jerked back in shock, staring at her boyfriend with an open mouth. "Stiles!"

"Not dressed like that," the Sheriff replied sassily, eyeing him up and down. "And, I hate to be the one to point out the obvious but, Skyler. Your girlfriend."

"Yeah, Stiles," Skyler snapped from beside him. "Your girlfriend."

"Well, that's uh..." Stiles trailed off, glancing between the two of them uncomfortably.

"This is the second crime scene that you've just happened to show up on in the past few weeks. And at this point, I've been fed so many lie, I'm not sure I know the kid standing in front of me. Now, what the hell is going on?" The Sheriff was starting to lose his temper and Sky seriously did not want to see Stiles fight with his dad. His eyes flickered up over their shoulders for a few seconds and she turned, seeing Scott waving awkwardly from the Jeep.

"Dad, I... I..." Stiles searched wildly for an explanation and to take the focus away from Scott.

"The truth, Stiles."

"We were here with Danny." Sky chipped in before Stiles could open his mouth again. "He broke up with his boyfriend, with Brian, a few days ago. I brought the guys here to help cheer them up. Stiles didn't really want to tell you, 'cause I know we're not meant to be in a club, but it was for Danny, and..." She tried to sound as sincere as possible, widening her eyes a fraction and smiling softly. The Sheriff looked to Stiles for confirmation and he nodded furiously.

"Well, that's really good of you guys," he said with a sigh. "You're good friends."

"He got taken away in an ambulance, though," Sky explained, faking confusion. "Does anyone know what happened?"

"No, and if I did, I probably couldn't tell you," he said, not unkindly. "Now you guys get home and stay inside, stay safe, okay?" He clapped a hand on Stiles' shoulder before walking off towards his deputies.

"Well, that went better than expected," Stiles breathed out, hands resting on his hips.

"If you're gay," Skyler said flatly. "I would rather you tell me right now instead of years down the line."

"Wha- What? I wasn't being serious!" He spluttered, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. "I mean, it's not like I haven't thought about it, but-"

"Stiles, I was kidding," she cut him off before he could explain his odd gay musings. "We should probably get back to the matter at hand."

"Oh. Right, the Jackson thing," he nodded and strode back to the Jeep, still blushing lightly from the sort of 'coming out' talk that he'd just had with his dad. He swung himself up into the driver's seat, starting up the engine as Sky settled on the passenger side.

"How did it go?" Scott asked from the backseat, leaning his head forward over the bench seat while they pulled out of the parking lot. "He didn't look too mad."

"We told him we were just here, supporting Danny, even though we knew that we weren't meant to be there," Sky said, glancing into the boot at Jackson's bare body and screwing up her nose in disgust. "But Stiles softened the blow by telling his father that he is, in fact, a latent homosexual deviant."

"I never said that!" Stiles exclaimed.

"Not in those exact words, but it was along those lines," Sky grinned. "And I'm never going to let it go."

"I absolutely do not want to know what the hell that was about," Scott decided, sounding horrified.

"Let's leave it alone then," Stiles said exasperatedly.

"Fine, buzzkill," she muttered. "Where are we taking it?"

"Uh, what about Scott's house?" Stiles suggested. It was probably the wisest move to keep the kanima near a werewolf that could incapacitate it if needs be.

"Not with my mom there," Scott protested. "We need to take him somewhere where we can hold him long enough to figure out what to do with him. Or long enough to convince him he's dangerous."

"Have you ever tried actually talking to Jackson?" Skyler asked scathingly. "He's impossible. And he's never going to listen to you."

"I still say we just kill him," Stiles said.

"We're not killing him," Scott snapped back.

"God, f..." Stiles groaned, then perked up. "Okay, okay. I got an idea."

"Does it involve breaking the law?" Scott asked apprehensively.

"By now don't you think that's a given?" Stiles gave him a pitying look.

"I was just trying to be optimistic."

"Don't bother," Skyler murmured softly, resting her head against the window.

"You might not make it home tonight, do you need to let Rebecca know?" Stiles turned his head to her for a few seconds, trying to keep his eyes on the road. She hadn't told Stiles about the blowout between the three of them and all of her feelings on the subject were starting to build up inside her until she felt like she was going to burst. She wished that she could tell Stiles about it but it just wasn't a good time right now. There was too much going on.

"I'll tell her I'm staying at yours," Skyler said, clearing her throat. "What is your plan, exactly?"

"Uh. You'll see when we get there," he replied. His tone made her nervous, it was a scheming tone.

She furrowed her brows at him and tucked her arms around herself. The amount of laws that they were breaking recently was starting to worry her. It worried her even more when he pulled into the parking lot of the Sheriff's station. Nearly all of the patrol cars and vans were missing, presumably dealing with the night club situation.

"Here's perfect," Stiles told them, drawing into an empty parking space. "You can't be seen from any of the security cameras." Sky and Scott both shot him an equally terrified look. It was scary that he knew that.

"What are you doing?" Sky asked again.

"Just stay here, and follow me when you see me. alright?" He turned off the engine and dropped the keys into her palm. "Don't get her stuck in a tree."

"Fuck you."

She took a friendly swing at him but missed as he slid out of the Jeep. Sky shifted over into the driver's seat, pressing her face to the window and watching Stiles disappear around the corner of the building into the tiny impound lot.

"What the hell is he doing?" Scott clambered into the front seat and dropped down next to her.

"I have no idea. Absolutely none." She started the engine back up, getting ready for whatever zany plan Stiles had in store. "And he never let's me drive Roscoe."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, jumping and twitching every time there was a noise other than their breathing and the rumble of the engine. Every time someone drove past the entrance to the parking lot they would slide down in their seats until the headlights had vanished again. After almost ten minutes of anxious silence, they heard the low growl of an engine, coming from behind the station.

"Oh, he fucking didn't," she breathed as the tip of the vehicle made its way around the corner, Stiles' outline visible behind the wheel.

"What is that?" Scott was watching his best friend with a wide-eyed disbelieving expression.

"It's a prisoner transport van," Sky said.

Scott made a strangled whining noise as she kicked the Jeep into gear. Skyler could see Scott running his hands through his hair, swearing and freaking out.

"What does he want us to do with it?" Scott hissed, eyes darting over Jackson's unconscious form, then Sky, then the road, then back to Jackson.

"Keep him in it I suppose," Skyler said, jerking her head at the guy in the boot. "This is, by far, the most ridiculous thing he has ever done."

"You haven't known him as long as I have," Scott replied darkly, with the a look that clearly stated, 'You weren't there, man. You don't understand.'

"Oh, where the hell is he taking us?"

Sky frowned through Roscoe's windscreen at the transport van. Stiles had turned off the road and into the Preserve. There was a beaten track that lead about two miles into the woods, when the reached the end of the path, Stiles kept going. The Preserve was scary at night, the trees stretching up like spindly fingers towards the sky and the twisted gnarled roots looked like they were ready to pull themselves out of the earth and start to walk. It was unnerving.

Stiles finally pulled to a halt in a clearing, maybe ten foot by ten foot, near the cliff that overlooked the town. He had parked in the shelter of a few large oak trees and was clambering out of the vehicle.

"Alright, what the fuck were you thinking?" Sky snapped, not even bothering to turn off the engine before hopping out of Roscoe and striding across the forest floor, Scott on her heels.

"What else where we going to do?"

"There's having a bad plan, and there's stealing police property!" She yelled. "On a scale of one to invading Russia in winter, this is invading Russia in winter!

"Well, what do you suggest we do?" He shot back.

"I don't know," she admitted. "I don't... Fuck." She ran her hands through her hair, screwing up her eyes.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay," Stiles murmured. He took a few steps across to her and wrapped his arms around her torso and she slid hers around his waist. "I know it was stupid, I know." He pulled back and looked her in the eyes. "Look, we can take it back if you want, we still have time."

"No. No, this is the best idea possible right now," she said, nodding her head at him. "It was smart. So what are we gonna do?"

"Put him in the van," Scott suggested.

"He's naked," Skyler reminded him with a disgusted sneer.

"My lacrosse bag is in the Jeep, I have spare boxers in there," Stiles said with an identical look of horror. "But someone has to put them on him."

"Dibs not it!" Skyler yelled, pressing her index finger to the side of her nose.

"Dibs not it!" Scott copied her a second later.

"Dibs not- Screw you guys!" Stiles grumbled. He looked between the two of them. "Are you guys really gonna make me do this on my own? I'm not strong enough to lift him myself." He raised an eyebrow and gave Scott a pointed look.

"Fine," he sighed, rolling his eyes at Stiles. "You do not understand the rules of dibs."

The two boys set off the the boot of the Jeep while Skyler clambered up onto the bonnet of the transport van, lying back across the windscreen. She pulled her phone out unlocked it, sending a quick text to Rebecca to let her know that she wouldn't be home tonight, telling her that she would be at Stiles'. She had the sneaking suspicion that she would actually be spending the night in the woods, looking after the kanima. She could see, out of the corner of her eye, Stiles gripping Jackson's feet and Scott holding up his arms. They carried him across to the prisoner transport van and disappeared into the back.

"He's chained to the floor," Stiles told her, emerging from the van a moment later and making his way to Roscoe. "And smelly."

Skyler slid off the bonnet of the Jeep and strolled to stand next to the two boys that had slumped against the side of Roscoe. She settled inbetween them and leaned back against the driver's door. The sun was already starting to rise and the sky was turning pink. School was going to start in a few hours. Jackson was a murder killing lizard creature. They all stood in silence for close to half an hour, the shock and exhaustion of the night wrapping itself around them. Finally, Scott opened his mouth.

"What the hell are we going to do now?"


End file.
